Companionship
by TheOrcInator
Summary: Having been captured by the new Horde with the intentions of using her as fuel, a young woman tries to escape the devastation that they are causing. Please note this story is based on the movie which I cannot find in the categories list and time frames may not be exact.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE ~ The run

It had been five grueling weeks.

Five terrifying, horrendous weeks.

Five weeks of sitting in a cage, a prison. A prison that was full of other people. The conditions were appalling, though she didn't think the orcs much cared about that.

 _Orc._

This was a new race, a race new to this world at least. From the little information she had been able to scrounge up or witness herself, they had come here by some sort of portal. And they were building a new one.

The thing that terrified her the most was that they _,she_ would be used as fuel. As a resource to open this portal. She had seen it happen before and the panic that had ensued with the captured humans had caused mayhem. Many of them had died from the hysteria, most of those had been children.

Every few days the orcs would throw food into the makeshift prisons. The compassionate ones would sneak in animal skins of water and fresh bread. They had even been offered fresh, cooked meat once. There was not enough of it to go around and so the crazed humans had killed off a few of their own. For a few scraps of meat.

She was ashamed to admit that she had been part of the killings. There been a large rock close by and her neighbour had not yet finished the hunk of meat. Her stomach and brain told her that _she_ was more important than he was and that _she_ deserved the food more than he did.

It had been that simple.

So she'd taken a rock. A insignificant rock. No bigger than the palm of her hand. And she beat him with it. Beat him till his skull had caved in. Till the blood and grey matter from his brain was smeared starkly against her hands and her face. And then she had taken his small piece of meat, a piece that was barely a handful, and with her hands and face still covered in his blood and in what had been his whole life, his whole conscience, had eaten his piece of meat.

She was punished for this act of brutality. The orcs had taken her out of the prison and whipped her until her body, perished and weak, gave up trying. Much to the amusement of the orcs who had resuscitated her and then whipped her again.

His body had not gone to waste. When she was flung back into the prisons the meat had been stripped off the bone. It had merely been a few hours.

She had let herself fall into a uncomfortable and brief sleep, knowing their bellies were full, knowing that they would leave her alone, even if it was just for a few hours.

 _We were lucky._

That had been the first thought through her mind as they had watched in horror as the old green orc drained the life essence out of one of the cages next to them.

 _Lucky again._

To open the portal the same green, old, orc, the one with glowing eyes had chosen a different imprisonment to fuel the portal. More orcs rushed through and the orc encampment was getting bigger and bigger by the day.

But now she was not so sure. The hunger was carved into her brain every day. The thirst was proving too much. The small, cramped, cages were making the humans lose their sanity. There was nothing they could do other than wait for rescue and that hadn't happened. It hadn't even been attempted.

 _How could they not know? How?_

That is what she had first thought. The orcs destruction was evident enough and they were just bringing in more and more of the huge creatures. Most of the brutes ignored the prisoners, rallying for the greater cause, while the humans were left to muck about in their own filth. In their own excrement, waiting for their ultimate death.

Eventually she had given up. She was not sure if the others had but she did. She did not care to be rescued but she did not want to be here either. Was it better just to die? Would it hurt when their spirits were vacuumed out of their bodies for fuel? She supposed that it must do, she had seen the agony and terror on those who had been used.

Her head was filled with these thoughts as she sat in the corner all day. The orcish language had not been hard to pick up and already she could distinguish different dialects, she even knew a few of their words. Words like, prisoner, rock, tree and water to name a few.

At first her days had been filled with a desperate need to escape, a desperate need to _live._ Now, she didnt much care anymore. She had first tried to starve herself but had not had the willpower to do so when presented with food. It had been the same with water. She had eventually just decided to wait, her day would come soon or enough.

As the sun descended into the mountains above them it grew cold and frosty. The orcs were settling down and returning to their tents, uncaring of the prisoners that begged for water, food or life. Night, although cold, was her favourite part of the day. It was quiet, people slept, she could be in peace.

This night was no different. The orcs returned to their tents and the humans tried their best to sleep. Those who were dying or close to it would be killed in the night, their remains used as food.

She liked to stay awake during this time, mostly to protect herself but also to experience a tiny sliver of normality.

It was easy, in the beginning, to imagine herself just walking through a dark forest. Not being able to see or just closing her eyes against the offending prison bars helped. Now though it was much more difficult. The stench of urine and feces filled the air, people cried, babies cried. She could not carry herself away like she used to.

Closing her eyes against the night she listened, listened to the orcs snoring, talking or eating, while they were trapped in this miserable makeshift cage outside in the dark. She felt the resentment growl within her and she let it. She let the hatred burn through her veins and sear her mind.

Something stirred … she opened her eyes, letting them grow accustomed to the dark. Straining her ears again she waited for something to happen. When nothing did she closed her eyes again and shrugged passing it off as a late night orc.

 _But there it was again~_

Her eyes snapped open and she stood as quickly as her body would allow. In the darkness she could make out figures. They were hard to see, like softly swirling smoke they barely stood out against the night.

"Hey-" Her voice was harsh against her throat, she could barely scream out a whisper.

Apparently it had been enough. The figure drew closer coming to a standstill by the bars, looking at the lock that locked them in. Who ever this person was they were wearing Stormwind colours and there were a few of them.

The relief that broke through her mind brought tears streaming down her face, she reached out through the bars and the figure clasped her hand in their own.

"Please - please help us." The figure clasped her hand more tightly. These people had not gone unnoticed by the other prisoners, they were muttering under their breath looking around uncertainly.

The figure had to uncurl the girl's hand from his own, the amount of humans here had astounded him and the smell had horrified him. Quickly he took out a few tools, the lock itself was easy enough to pick.

 _I need to save these people._

His death was a swift mace to the skull. It shattered the bone and as he slumped to the ground the orc behind him roared with such fierceness that she could feel it reverberate inside her, inside her bones.

But the prison was open. The huge door slammed to the ground and for but a second, there was dead silence. The figures had disappeared into the night as suddenly as they had arrived. She heard the rushing people run passed her as she was knocked onto the ground, she rolled quickly to the side, managing to avoid most of their feet.

Those that were first out were either killed or grabbed and put into other cages, she was one of the last to slip out and instead of rushing away she sneaked into the shadows. The call had been alarmed now and orcs rushed passed her, kneeling behind a small tent she was hidden almost in plain sight.

Despite her situation she had never felt more alive, more incontrol. Although her heart beat so loud in her ears that she feared someone might hear it, her blood pounded in her veins making her hands and feet itch.

Everything in her body told her to just run, just run and get out of this _godforsaken_ camp. But her mind knew better and they were expecting her to run. They were faster and stronger so she had to be more cunning and shrewd to get out. Carefully she followed the shadows to the outskirts of the camp. Never before had she been more afraid for her life.

 _If they catch me I hope they just kill me._

In her heart she knew they wouldn't, they needed her for fuel. For a long time she sat very still, hearing the screams of the people that had been temporarily released. She wondered if they were being killed or worse, being forced back into the makeshift prisons. She watched as orcs walked by, holding her breath, scared that if she even twitched a muscle they would see her.

Her stakes had never been higher. Being so close to the outskirts of the camp she had to keep herself from running. Every muscle in her body ached run as far away as she possibly could from this hellhole.

When she was sure that the coast was clear she snuck out from behind the tent, trying her best to stay as far away from any light as she could manage. Every crunch of leaves or stone beneath her feet made her shake in fear of being discovered.

It was at least one hour till she reached the edge of the were running around with weapons in their hands, looking for the prisoners that had escaped. She had to assume that enough of them had managed to get away that orcs had been sent out to get them.

Carefully and as quietly as she could manage, she slipped into the trees surrounding the camp. She started to run, the muscles in her body started to ache quicker that what she had hoped to get out of them but what did she expect? She had not had a proper meal in five weeks.

Not caring in which direction she was moving in she ran until her legs gave in. When they did she started to crawl as fast as she could. Dragging herself to the thickest bush within her line of sight she carefully tried to cover herself up. Even though her mind was desperately telling her to run her body could not keep it up. She needed to rest her body so that she would have the energy to move.

She tried desperately to sleep but it would not come. Every crackle of leaves or snap of a twig caught her attention. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark but the trees were thick around her, blocking anyone from her view.

Before the sun rose that day she was up and walking quickly into the forest. She had been astounded that no orc had crossed her path but eternally grateful. She started to mutter to herself, to anyone who was there to listen, praying to get out of this alive. She managed to find a small bush of blackberries and picked them eagerly, eating them as she walked. She strained her ears and eyes for any movement, any sound that could give an ambushing orc away.

She walked till the sun was up and then let herself rest. She desperately needed water but did not want to stop to find any. Soon she came upon a massive outclearing. As far as her eye could see the trees parted into a massive field, green with lush grass and with purple flowers blooming, she would stick out like a sore thumb.

It was too massive to travel around, going straight through would cut down on her time by at least two or three days. The field looked empty, untrampled and clean. It had been untouched by the orcs vulgar green magic. She stepped out onto the field uncertainly at first, she knew that if she could cross this her chances of getting away would increase tremendously. It amazed her how bright and outstanding these little purple flowers were, how they seemed to jump up into her sight. She had never seen anything quite so magnificent.

Once she was a few metres into the field and was confident that no one was coming after her she started to run. The field was vast and rocky, little streams streaked around it, crisscrossing the flower burdened land. She had to watch her step, careful not to trip over the jutting rocks or tumble into a stream she focused on getting to a small outcrop of rocks where she could take cover and rest for a few minutes.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, her legs burnt from their exhursion but she had to keep going, she had to reach those rocks, she needed to be safe. Glancing around briefly she almost missed the brown figure that was coming out from the trees behind her. At first panic started to cloud her mind, was it an orc? She couldn't see who this person was, it might be someone who had also escaped the encampment. She stopped running and waited for the figure to emerge from the trees.

 _No-_

He was huge, the brown skinned orc had seen her and they were looking directly at each other. For a few seconds both of them stood still.

She bolted first. Turning quickly and not thinking where to run she pounded forwards, leaping over the rocks in front of her and hurling herself forwards. Desperately she looked for somewhere to hide, anywhere that would offer her some form of protection. The outcropping of rocks was too far away, she would never get there in time.

She heard him roaring in the distance behind her, it sent spikes of fear flaring off in her brain. She would not be able to outrun him, he was faster, he had more energy but she could try. Already she could hear the orcs footsteps behind her and for few seconds it spurred her body forward.

She risked a quick glance behind her and her stomach dropped when she saw how close he was already. She could see the sweat beaded on his forehead, the scars on his chest and the wolf teeth around his neck. In that moment she made her mind up. She would either escape from this in anyway possible or she would die here. She refused to be taken back to the orc camp.

When felt his fingers barely touching her back she stopped running and curled herself into a ball as close to the ground as she could manage. His momentum carried him forward and as he skidded to halt in front of her she stood quickly. He had been confused by this little human's actions and so did not charge in immediately.

He could see the differences of what they would be fighting for. He understood that she intended either to die or escape but he had been given orders to let neither of those things happen.

He could see the resolve in her eyes, he was surprised by the emotion and intelligence that lingered there. They had been told that these natives were animalistic and inferiorly stupid, it had certainly seemed that way when they had been captured but this one… there was a fierceness in her eyes that equalled any orc before battle.

She would be fighting for her life were as he was merely here to collect another bit of fuel. She would be reckless and would fight like a cornered animal. He was not worried about this at all. The orcs had proven time and time again that they were stronger and faster than the small teeth so as far as he was concerned she did not stand a chance. He would however give her the opportunity to come with him willingly, attacking a small human who was malnourished and had no weapon would not be an honourable thing to do.

The orc was grunting to her in his language, she shook her head briskly not understanding what he was saying and not caring either. She did not have the energy to play games with him and her anxiety of this encounter was making her heart pound strongly within her chest.

He made a movement with his hand, a movement that was meant to grab onto her shoulder but she quickly stepped back, slipping out of his reach. She would not run, there was no point but she would rather die than go back to the camp.

She was surprised when he sighed and looked around them hesitantly, he seemed to regret the situation that he had been put in.

"Lok'Tar Ogar, prisoner." Although he had spoken in orcish, she recognised that he had referred to her as prisoner and she recognised Lok'Tar Ogar, having heard it many times in the encampment, but did not understand it.

It was with great reluctance that he lifted his axe up to this emaciated, exhausted woman. If she had no weapon of her own then he would not fight her with one. He cast it aside and noted how she stepped back uncertainly.

He spoke to her in Orcish again but she just watched him carefully, she was looking to see how within reach his axe was and so to make a point he stepped away from it. She still didn't understand what he was saying but it didn't matter.

There was a deafening silence between them, not even the birds were chirping anymore. He held out his hand, willing her to come with him without a fight but she refused. Unexpectedly she lunged for him, pushing his outstretched arm out of the way and slamming an elbow into the side of his head. She struck hard and true and grunting at the pain, he grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her away.

Roaring his displeasement he pushed a punch into her stomach, her face instantly paled had he felt a sickening crack of bone under his knuckles. She staggered away from him quickly clutching her stomach and slumped to her knees.

He called to her in Orcish again but she did not understand. Ignoring him and trying to get her breath back she was cushioned by this pain. She felt alive as the adrenaline pumping through her body numbed the pain, she stayed kneeling on the ground. He started to walk over to her and was reaching down to grab her shoulder when she slammed her fist as hard she could into one of his knee caps.

Surprised again and overbalanced by her sudden attack he stumbled backwards, the heels of his feet met rock and he teetered for a few seconds. He saw her leaping towards him and time slowed, he saw the desperation and determination on her face, her eyes stood out in the sunlight, green with flecks of brown. They stared at each other in this moment, until her body crashed into his. He hit the ground hard and it immediately winded him, looking up at the human who was sprawled on his chest, the human who was pulling her fists back and pounding into his face.

She was surprisingly strong and her frantic punching was taking its toll on him, he could feel his conscience slipping, he had underestimated this little small tooth. His hand enclosed around a smooth rock feeling its coolness against the hot skin on his hands. He picked it up and hit it against her head. There was a brief pause. Her hands slid down from the air as her body tilted forward, they came to rest on either side of his head and her eyes locked onto his.

There were a few brief seconds that they stared at each other. A few brief seconds were they _connected._ He could feel her heart fluttering in her chest, the blood pounding in her legs. He could feel her confusion. The light started to slip from eyes, slowly at first and then all at once. As she was slumping forward he shrugged her off quickly. Not sure whether he had killed her or not.

He rubbed his sore face, feeling the bruises starting to form. She had not need able to harm him seriously. He sat with his head between his knees for a few minutes to steady himself before standing up.

He looked to where her slumped body was lying, it would not be hard to bring her back to camp. He could hear breathing softly and, with regret, see the bruise that was starting to form on her temple.

He picked her up as gently as he could manage and started walking. It took him a few hours to get to the edge of the large out clearing and before he disappeared into the forest he looked one last time to the pillars of smoke bellowing out into the sky. It was the last he would see of the orc camp for a very long time.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO ~ Uncertainty

It had been the first time, in what felt like a very long time, since she had slept this well. Waking up every few hours she was too tired to call attention to herself for help. She was warm and oddly cosy.

 _How could that be?_

She pushed the thought away quickly, she was inside and she was warm. That was all that mattered right now. When she had woken up and realised she wasn't dead the relief had flooded her body with emotions. She had sobbed herself back to sleep within a few minutes, trying not to move to still the pain welling up in her chest.

It had been four days since he had left the camp with her and he had been lucky to find, what he assumed to be, an old human settlement. It had been completely deserted years ago. The people who had lived there had not even bothered to pack up their items. He had made a mental note to come back to this place for it was too dilapidated to offer shelter which they so desperately needed.

The small toothed one in his arms had not fully regained consciousness and his worry for her was growing by the day. She had briefly woken to accept water but that was two days ago. She had also shown no surprise at seeing the orc who offered the water to her before she slipped away again.

A few meters up a steep hill he came across the entrance to a cave. He smelt carefully, often predators would drag their food into caves but this one did not have the stench of rotting meat. Once he was sure there was no living animal in the cave he hesitantly entered it. There was enough light filtering through that he could see the back wall. He was greatly relieved to find it seemingly uninhabited.

He had taken the risk to leave her there while he went back into the small deserted settlement. He found woven blankets, lots of old animal skins and tons of leather. He carried them easily back to the cave and went down again to collect roughly made weapons that had been stashed under floorboards and behind bushes and old leather and wood working tools. In old chests he had also managed to find old plates and bowls, they were roughly made but would come in handy for food and water. They had remained untouched for all this time.

Going back into the cave he piled up a few of the animal skins and placed her in them, covering her up with a blanket and making sure she looked as comfortable as possible.

He wasn't sure why he was so worried about this small human but taking her on he had had an unfair advantage even if he hadn't used a weapon. He was guilty that he had hurt her so badly, she looked so frail. She had not taken food for four days nor water for two, if she didn't wake up soon she would probably die from her lack of liquid.

He sat in the cave with her for another two days, twice she had stirred softly to take water before slipping away once more and on one occasion he had heard her sobbing into the blankets.

Daily he would go out and collect branches for firewood, he had also discovered that there was flowing water a short ten minute walk from the camp. With the materials he had managed to scavenge from the settlement he made a few animal traps. He had even managed to find a large pot nestled next to a few books. That would come in handy for cooking.

Inside the cave he decided to light a fire separating the two people who inhabited it. At night he covered up the entrance to the cave as best he could with the bundles of leather and would make a fire to cook.

There were more pressing matters at hand. It had started to get cold, very cold. At night the fire could barely keep him warm and would often burn out before morning. He would need warmer animal skins and a large supply of firewood ready for use at the very least.

On the third morning of his settlement into the cave he found that two of his traps contained rabbits. Both were quite large and he quickly gutted and skinned them before taking them back to camp, cutting them up and chucking them into the pot. He started a fire outside the cave and added water to the pot before putting it on the fire.

He collected as much firewood as he could and stacked it outside the cave. The smell of the rabbit stew was greatly enticing to him and he found himself daydreaming about the succulent meats of a boar.

He went up to the little river and washed himself off as best he could before collecting water further upstream. He could smell the cooking food all the way from up here and his stomach grumbled at the thought of a good hearty meal.

Once he was back at camp he took one of the crudely fashioned bowls and dipped it into the rabbit broth. He walked slowly into the cave, ducking his head down under the entrance. He sat on his skins, briefly glancing at the small toothed human who had turned around and was now facing him before turning to his gaze to the food.

He was halfway through his meal when he looked at her again and this time she was looking back at him. There was shock and fear in her eyes as blood ran cold at the sight of the big orc sitting just meters away from her.

 _What's happening? Why is he here?_

She stared at him for a moment and he stared back at her. She could feel the blood draining slowly from her skin. She could not read the expression on his face and the last time she had seen him he was there to take her back to the orc camp.

Slowly as to not hurt herself she broke his gaze and turned so that her back was facing him. She covered herself with the blankets as much as she could and just lay there frozen in fear. This time she would not be able to move so quickly. She heard him starting to stand up and squeezed her eyes tight with her terror but he merely walked out of the cave. It was only a few seconds before he came back, he put something next to her which she did not dare to move to look at and sat down again.

 _Is this a cave?_

Yes, it must be. The walls were hard and cold and looking at the caves surroundings distracted her from the massive orc that was sitting almost right next to her. She lay there for what seemed like hours, her ribs ached and her body yearned to move but she wouldn't. Her fear of him was too great, too powerful. Once it had gotten dark he left the cave again and came back in, with what she assumed to be, wood. She could hear him starting to make a fire.

 _Fire? Now?_

Was that right? Was she just imagining things? Carefully she started to roll over and took hold of the caves wall to take some weight of her chest. She managed to get into a sitting position and looked straight up into his eyes. The considered each other from across the small space, there was a bowl of food next to him that smelt delicious and her stomach audibly growled with hunger. She was taken aback when he started to grin at her gesturing to the two bowls that had been placed close to her. One had been filled with water, the other was filled with some kind of broth.

He looked away and carried on tending to the fire, he felt nervous suddenly now that she was awake and her eyes were upon him. At first she didn't move. Surveying her surroundings she noted carefully that he did not have a weapon in the cave. Although this somewhat comforted her he was still much stronger than her, his hands bigger than her face. He had been able to crack a few of her ribs with a punch he hadn't been interested in throwing.

She took the bowl of water and drank deeply, quenching the thirst that had been nagging her. The water was surprisingly fresh and cool. She let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the cave wall. Meanwhile the orc had finished making the fire, he sat back and picked up his bowl of food again.

Although he was intently looking at her she would not meet his gaze. She looked instead at the bowl of food that he had given to her. How long had she been unconscious for? She didn't remember how she got here. He had in no way harmed her after their short fight and was now offering her food. Why hadn't he taken her back to the camp?

She picked up the bowl of broth and brought it to her lips. It was still warm and as she tilted it into her empty stomach she wanted nothing more than to tip all of the contents of the bowl into her empty belly.

As if reading her thoughts the orc wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled the bowl down so that she couldn't rush it.

"No," he looked at her, surprised that she was not flinching away at his touch. No was a word that he had picked up quickly from the prisoners and so he used it for her, knowing she would understand.

"Slow." He grunted in Orcish.

At first she just cocked her head to the side before shaking it, indicating that she did not understand what he was trying to say. He took his bowl and slowly raised to his mouth, taking a small sip and lowered it slowly before repeating the action. The third time he did it she mimicked his actions with her bowl.

 _He's telling me to eat slowly._

"Slow?" she tried to mimic how he had pronounced it and he nodded with excitement when she did.

"Yes! Slow!" He slapped a hand on his knee and roared with laughter, this tiny thing was not as stupid as she looked. His laughing earned him a small smile.

"Slow" She repeated it once in her own language and then again in his before taking the bowl to her lips and sipping again. As she slowly drank she surveyed the orc in front of her. The first thing that her eyes landed on were his tusks. They were larger than those of the other orcs she had seen and much sharper. Adorned with a two tusk rings at different lengths on the one side and on the other a golden ring had been pierced through the tooth. They arched above a thick lip that had three lips rings pierced through, right next to each other.

He caught her looking and flicked at his teeth proudly, despite his age and prowess in battle they had never been chipped and had not worn down.

She did not react to his action but continued to look at this face. He was not sure whether or not she was sizing him up again but this time if she decided to run he would let her. He had felt morally obligated to keep her alive because he had taken her with him but if she ran of her own accord he would not put up any resistance.

But her eyes held only curiosity, they ran over his face slowly. He looked tired and worn but not forlorn. The had light character wrinkles around his eyes which were an usual golden colour, with a ring of dark brown around his iris. She held his gaze for a while before breaking it and moving her eyes over his head. His hair was a deep, dark brown, almost black and adorned with beads and bands of silver, there were small braids that ran down the length of this head. It was braided into one thick braid that disappeared over his shoulders. His ears were pointed and longer than that of a human's also contained multiple piercings of animal bones, snug hoops and wood. His nose was pierced through the septum with a large, spiked, silver ring.

Her eyes looked back into his and they sat quietly for a few minutes. He was as curious about her as she was about him and he let her roam his body with her eyes thinking that it would help calm her fear. The scars on his arms, legs and chest told her story about how he had fought in battles and perhaps how he had won them.

She did not know what to do. Weighting up her options as she surveyed him it would seem to her that she only had two.

The first was to run. However in her current condition that would be a stupid thing to do. She was weak and she knew it. Her cracked ribs would impede her movement greatly, she had nothing to carry water or food with her and she had no shelter. She had run from the orc camp to escape the certain death that awaited her. She hadn't thought about how she would survive, she had just not wanted to die there.

Her second option was to stay. Although she did not like this option it was the one that was most plausible. The orc had provided her with food, water, shelter and even something soft and comfortable to sleep on. Those were not the actions of someone intent on killing their victim.

She looked down at the broth and took a small sip from it.

"Thank you."

He did not understand the words but he could see the gratitude on her face. Although she was still pressed hard against the wall, getting as far away from him as she could, he could see that she was less tense and he was somewhat relieved that she had made no move to escape. Or at least not yet. She had stopped wearily watching him and was looking around the cave, it wasn't huge but both of them could fit in it comfortably. There was wood stacked just outside and she could see that he had made the effort of making it more comfortable.

She looked back at him and into his eyes. Their staring in no way felt uncomfortable or awkward, it was being used as a tool to try and communicate. She could see and was reassured by how gentle his eyes were as they looked at her and the intelligence that shone through could not be disputed.

"Are you going to hurt me?"

He shook his head slowly from side to side and put down the bowl of finished broth. She was unsure if he had understood her and so repeated the question.

He cocked his head to the side, indicating that he still hadn't understood and grunted something in orcish to her. She in turn shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. She gestured to where he had punched her and looked back to him.

"Again?" He tried his best in her language but struggled with the word trying to roll it off him tongue.

"Yes."

"No." He replied to her quickly. She looked slightly more relieved by his answer and by the slight guilt that flickered into his eyes. She looked away quickly, pretending not to see it and sipped more from the broth. She was now sated, her hunger and thirst quelled by this orc who had meant to bring her back to that _hellhole._ The fire was warm in front of her and despite the orc that was sitting in front of her she felt safe.

 _Safe? With an orc sitting next to you?_

She wondered if she was just being stupid but quickly quelled the thought. Why would he have wasted food and water on someone he was going to just kill later on? With her belly full and the warmth cushioning her mind she grew sleepy. It was dark outside already and as she yawned softly the orc got up, he fetched the pot from outside and covered up the entrance to the cave. When was back inside she was lying down on her skins and had covered herself up with the blankets.

She was staring intently into the flames, he could see them dancing in her eyes which had grown heavy with tiredness. He lay down on his makeshift bed and looked at her one last time before turning his back. She continued to look into the flames until she fell asleep. Tomorrow would be an interesting day and she would have to be ready.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE ~ Dancing

It had been three days since she had woken up. The confidence she felt was growing everyday. The morning after she had woken up she had tried to get out of the cave. Her body was sore and stiff for lying so long and she thought maybe a small walk might do it well. The orc however was not impressed that she was up so quickly. As soon as she stepped out of the cave the orc rushed from his chore of chopping wood and blocked her path.

"No, no, no - " He guided her back into the cave and settled her down in the blankets. A few minutes later she was out again, walking slowly from the cave and looking around at the her new surroundings. The orc had guided her back into the cave again, this time more firmly and he sat with her quietly for a few minutes before he got up to continue collecting wood.

Within half an hour she was out again. The orc tried to subdue his annoyance, he guessed she must be bored sitting in the cave all day, he would have been too. He threw the old axe he was chopping with into the ground, where it jutted out firmly against the soft, grassy soil and stomped towards her. She should _not_ be up so early after being wounded, how did she not know that?

She held her hands up in compliance showing the blankets in her arms. He hesitated and then stopped in his tracks, interested to see what she would do. Once she was sure that he wouldn't try and get her back into the cave, she put some of skins on the ground, which was padded with soft grass, and made herself a little nest of animal skins and woven cloth.

She sat herself in the middle of this nest of blankets and looked alertly at her surroundings. Close to the mouth of a cave was the remainder of a fire. Wood was piled up neatly outside and to the left of the cave mouth. He had tried his best to leave the trees surrounding the cave so the clearing just outside was clear of branches and sticks.

Little white flowers had popped up just above the green grass. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, she could smell the sweet tang from the flowers, the fresh smell of grass and leaves. She could hear the rush of water from a stream or maybe a small river, a slight breeze lightly caressed her face and hair. It felt so _good_ to be outside after been stuck in a cage filled with other people.

From across the clearing from where she was sitting the orc watched her quietly from where he had been stripping wood for tinder. She sat quietly looking around at the area they had inhabited, her eyes alert and her back straight, proud. Then her eyes had closed and she breathed in deeply, he saw how she winced at the pains in her chest but she seemed to ignore it.

He was sorry that they had this to her, sorry for everyone but mainly for her. He carried on watching her intently, the little human did not open her eyes but sat and enjoyed the breeze that was circling her face.

The lines on her face were unlike other orc females he had seen, they were soft. A straight but small nose flowed into smooth lips, her jaw line was soft unlike female orcs whose jawlines tended to be very sharp and square. Her forehead was smooth and not as rounded as an orcs, her cheekbones descended gracefully down to a small pointed a chin which, with amusement, he noted a small dimple in it.

Although not much shorter than a female orc she was much smaller, smaller shoulders, smaller hips and a smaller structure in general meant less muscle which ultimately meant less strength. She would not have won a hands on battle against any orc.

He looked back to the small strips of wood that had piled up next to his feet. The language barrier was going to be a huge problem. He was a fighter not a scholar and he hoped that soon there could be some form of understanding between them. He would need her help for the oncoming winter.

The following days passed almost boringly, she helped where she could but he did most of the work. She would cook the meat, which required her to sit down anyway, boil water and neaten up the camp as much as she could. Within a week she was walking normally again, grateful to have healed so quickly. She was still weary of the big orc that had bought her here but he had in no way attempted to harm her and would actively try and teach her Orcish. In between the odd jobs they would attempt to talk, her orcish had improved greatly but he often struggled to speak her words or to understand her when she spoke in her own tongue.

Although there was not a huge amount of readily available meat she had somehow managed to find a batch of potatoes and carrots. He was not familiar with these foods but happy at how delighted she had been when she bought them back. Planting them close the cave she had gone back a few times and added the root vegetables to rabbit or squirrel stew.

Since she had taken on cooking duties the meals had been come more tasty, she added herbs and would brown the meat for making it into a stew thick with potatoes, carrots and meat.

It was on a cold and rainy evening that she had taken the pot inside to cook in the cave. The wood outside was quickly becoming damp and so the orc took a few leather skins and draped them over the now impressive stacks. Then he had come inside, seeking shelter from the rain.

Sitting opposite her as she sat and watched the stew boiling with a bored look on her face, he decided that it would be a good time to tell her his name.

"I'm Garrok'Nha, last of the Blood Tooth clan." He pointed to himself for good measure so that she knew he was talking about himself. She was looking up at him now, with those big eyes, eyes that had recently started to entrance him. She sat up straight and answered in his language.

"I am Lilly." She pointed at herself and then back at him, "Garrok'Nha Blood Tooth."

"Yes," He replied. She spoke slowly in his language. She could not seem to spit the words out like he did but rather they rolled gently off her tongue.

"Garrok'Nha, what do you mean the last of your clan?" She looked up at him inquisitively.

 _Those eyes -_

He looked away quickly and swallowed loudly. "Gul'dan killed my family and my clan because I did not accept his gift." He spat on the ground in disgust. She looked at him disapprovingly but ignored his action.

"Gul'dan? Orc? Green with a beard and - " She hesitated then, not sure of the word and gestured with her hands awkwardly on her shoulder blades and back, "His bones sticking out."

"Yes."

"He is a bad orc?"

"Yes."

They sat in silence for a while, she was looking seriously into the stew with a frown on her face. She wrapped a blanket around herself trying to get rid of the chilly nip that had descended in the cave, even with a fire going.

"You had a family?"

"Yes." His answered were coming more clipped and sharp, she decided to stop pressing the subject and withdrew to her thoughts.

 _A family?_ Could people as brutal and uncompassionate as the orcs have families? Her brow furrowed further into wrinkles as she frowned. None of the orcs had shown compassion to her people when they were captured. She had not seen any orcish children but why would they have brought them with they were only bringing in warbands?

"Do you have a family?"

 _No_ , she shook her head as a reply and stirred the pot again before pulling the blankets over her head so that just her face was sticking out.

"No one?"

She looked up and straight into his eyes, although their conversations were becoming more fluent there were certain topics neither of them wanted to touch upon. He saw the flicker of annoyance in her eyes, annoyance and something else. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"No one." She repeated after him and sighed softly. Her belly grumbled at the smell of the cooking food and she quickly stirred it again.

Not having anyone to go back to would be something that she would have to deal with. It was disheartening think that if she did get out of this situation she had nowhere to go. No one stay with. Despite her close proximity to other people when she was being held captive no one had bothered to get to know each other or to make were too worried about their death. She had been too. There was no _time_ to make friends.

She felt that he was looking curiously at her, she did not want to speak about her past right now and so stirred the pot once more. She covered up her face with the blankets and slumped her body down into the blankets and skins of her bed.

There was silence for a few minutes while the stew bubbled on the fire. As she sat cocooned by the blankets the memories rushed back to her and she let them. She let them rush through her body, through her blood. She let them upset her as her eyes welled with tears and her body heaved with the memories that clouded her mind. She let them harden her resolve and sharpen her determination.

She rustled her way out of the blankets and when she emerged she looked at the orc, straight backed and angry.

"Did you capture some of us?" Her voice was loud and strong, it reverberated through the cave and Garrok'Nha raised a brow in surprise at her ferocity.

"Yes."

There was silence for a while and although he strongly regretted his actions there was nothing that he could do to go back and change it. The few tears that had slipped down her face were angrily wiped away.

"We were told you and your people were..." he paused for a moment, trying to find the right words so say. "Lesser than us."

She looked at him and started muttering to herself in her own tongue, she wrapped the blankets around her shoulders again.

"I see that we were wrong."

She could see that he was telling the truth but it didn't change what the orcs had done. She wondered how many of the people who had escaped had actually survived. She had seen how most of them had been killed, mercilessly and with a hammer or axe that was slammed into their body until their bones were splintered and their hearts carved in two.

He could see her distress but he didn't know what to do. Comforting a human who he had helped capture and retain was...ironic and he didn't think that she would appreciate it. Her eyes still shone with tears unshed, her face had paled leaving dark circles under her eyes. Even her lips had gone slightly grey.

He hadn't quite thought how difficult this situation would be. Orcs and humans were at war but he'd just taken this human, brought her into a cave and he expected her to stay? Had he really expected them to just get along? He hadn't realised the repercussions that this was going to cause, not for him but for _her._

"You can leave this place if you want. I am not holding you prisoner here."

"I know."

Her answer had surprised him, surprised him so much that the reaction on his face was visible to her. She huddled the blankets closer to her body and inched closer to the fire.

"I'm not in a cage and I'm not - " She struggled to find the word for she did not know it in his language and tried to show him with her wrists crossed.

"Binded?"

"Like tied up?"

"Yes, binded." He nodded at her. She had been quick to learn, quick enough that he had been impressed with her retention of his language. He took up two bowls was dipping them into the pot of stew.

Carefully he stood up, hunched over as not to hit his head on the roof of the cave he took the few steps closer to her. He offered her the bowl, which she took gratefully and carefully sat down next to her. She did not miss how carefully he sat, how he put himself down gently so that he wouldn't knock her. He sat close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body, even through the blankets but not close enough that they were touching in anyway.

He was greatly relieved that she was staying because she wanted too. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He often came back into the camp or the cave, wondering if she would still be there. He would worry about her if she would run, if she did she would not last long out here.

They ate in silence for a while. She was oddly comforted by the large orcs presence, there was no animosity between them as they ate. He was was comfortable with her as she was with him. There was no _judgement_. When she finished eating she placed her bowl down next to the large pot, which had been taken off the fire and snuggled back into her blankets. With her belly full and her body warm she could feel herself drifting.

 _Lilly._

That was such a … short name. She had added no surname or title, although he wasn't sure she would be cable of anything of the sort to earn one. He quickly reminded himself that he had underestimated her before. Chewing his food slowly he thought of how the orcs would have reacted if they knew he had saved the life of this Lilly Small Tooth, a human. They would surely kill him for it, going against Gul'dan's plans had always proved fatal and taking this human away from his use was direct defiance of his orders.

He felt odd though. He didn't _care_ if they would disapprove and why should he? Once his family and his clan had been killed the orcs had ostracized him. Although he had not been exiled he had been turned away by his own people, the only clan who had accepted him, despite the other clans rejections, were the Frostwolves and he had been eternally grateful but he felt he didn't belong there.

Here with this small tooth he felt like he had a purpose, the need to provide for her was distracting him from the pressing threat at hand. If Gul'dan had his way this world would die and then the orcs and the people here would have nowhere to go.

He was at a loss at what to do. His heart was telling him to go back and fight, he wanted to take Gul'dan's head in his hands and crush his skull. He wanted to feel the orcs brain being squashed in his hands. His fury made his body shake with anger and the small toothed human looked up at him with a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He grunted abruptly. He could feel her eyes still on him but did not look back at her. Gently and before she could stop herself she reached out and grasped his knee. She stared at her hand on his leg stunned as to why she would have done such a thing, why she would have reached out and comforted the orc. She swept through her mind for an answer and could not come up with anything logical. She hadn't even thought about what she had been doing, she had just done it.

Quickly she let go of him and huddled more under the blankets so that he couldn't see her face which was starting to burn red with embarrassment, she felt him shift in his seat but not from discomfort.

 _What was I doing?_

She did not feel him watching her and although he was curious as to her gesture of compassion but he was comfortable sitting where he was and didn't want to push her. When she had quickly taken her hand away and hidden her face he had bought a small smirk to his lips.

A silence had drifted back into the cave sometimes broken by the soft crackle of wood on the fire, the cave had warmed slightly or at least he was warm sitting next to someone who emitted her own body warmth. It was slowly starting to get dark outside now and the rain drummed down rhythmically on the rocks and ground. He could feel her body starting to slump against him and he guessed that she must be dozing off.

He got up carefully and laid her down on the skins gently so that he would not wake her. He quickly layered some skins over the cave entrance. Once it got dark it became impossible to do chores so he made to settle himself in his blankets, staring at the roof of the cave until he was able to slip to sleep.

It was still dark when she woke, she didn't wake with her tiredness still lingering or with the heaviness of sleep in her eyes. The fire had almost burnt down and she was guessed it had been a few hours since she had fallen asleep. Garrok'Nha was sleeping on the other side of the small cave. She hadn't remembered when he had moved so she assumed that she had fallen asleep when he was still sitting next to her.

It was raining harder now than it had been earlier that day and she loved it. The sound elated her mind and as she got up quietly to fetch some more wood for the fire she suddenly felt a rush of happiness.

She was still _alive._

After everything that had happened she was still here and still able to fight for her life. She had food, water and shelter and that was much more than what she thought she would have when she had been held captive by the orcs.

Taking a few pieces of wood she walked quietly back to the fire and knelt down to feed it, the wood would take a while to catch the flames so she laid two pieces on for good measure. Walking back outside she was careful to keep the pieces of the leather against the entrance to the cave so that the water and cold couldn't get through into its chamber.

She stepped out into the rain with her arms outstretched, not feeling the cold or the wind but feeling how the rain touched her face gently before running down her skin. The droplets were not hard and stinging but soft, caressing her hair, her face, her body.

She felt the dirt being washed away. The smell, sound, sight and even the taste filled her senses, it entranced her. She closed her eyes and rubbed her face with cupped hands, the feel of the rain on her skin was fresh and cool. She was not cold nor did she feel uncomfortable with the darkness that cloaked her. She could feel the smallest wisp of grass beneath her feet, each droplet of rain against her skin, the dirt being washed off her body.

The rain was cleansing her, it was cleansing her skin, her body, hair and her bitter memories. The smell of the damp earth elated her. She welcomed the rain running down her body, it was pure bliss.

Garrok'Nha sat up up quickly when he woke and found that the small human was gone from her animal skins. At first panic started to sprint through his mind but he calmed it, noticing the fire had been fed he assumed she was still around.

He got up and stretched quickly, hoping that she had not gotten herself into trouble. He doubted that she would have run away but he couldn't be sure.

He opened the leather carefully and quickly, in the worse case scenario she could already be injured but he hadn't heard anything or seen anything that would indicate that it was the case.

He stopped himself quickly before he could interrupt her, his panic was more so quenched once he had seen that she was safe and uninjured. She was doing the most curious thing, her body was almost blurred by the rain and he squinted against the night to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

He sat for a moment and watched, not daring to interrupt her while she danced in the rain.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note:_ I'm glad you guys are enjoy reading my story as much as I enjoy writing it :D

CHAPTER FOUR ~ Tendrils

The next day the rain had ended abruptly as it had started. Lilly was the first up of the two, she was filled with new energy from her night of joy. She neatened up the cave, careful not to wake the slumbering orc, started a fire outside to heat up the remainders of last night's dinner and cleaned up the area which had been strewn with sticks, leaves and branches from the wind.

Once everything was how she wanted it to be she walked around the forest for a bit, enjoying the shrill bird cries as the sun started to rise over the mountains. She was looking for a type of bush, she had seen a few around while she had wandered and tried her best to remember where they were placed.

She had plans for today. A chilly nip had settled in and preparations for winter had to be sorted out, something she needed to discuss with Garrok'Nha urgently. Clothes needed to be bought, foraged, or made as well as some sort of reliable food source that they needed desperately to establish. The first thing on her mind though were clothes and her body needed to be washed. The rain had rinsed most the dust and dirt away but that had been much more of an mental cleansing than a physical one.

Since having been brought here to the cave she had only bathed herself once. The orc had tried to help her but she had sent him away, the embarrassment of her emaciated body had proven too much. She had dipped in and out of the freezing water trying to wash the patches dirt and mud off her body. Once she was out she looked down at her thin and bruised chest. Her breasts had shrunk, almost shriveled, her hip bones stuck out harshly against a sunken belly. She could see the outlines of her ribs against her skin and the shock of seeing her body in such bad condition had disheartened her so much that she had lay down and cried.

Even though she had washed her clothes more than she had washed herself, they still smelt of feces and urine. Not her own but being dressed in the same clothes she had been caught in they had captured the smells of the people imprisoned and they would not let them go. Now she scoured around for the bushes intending to use them as a soap substitute. She was gone from camp no less than an hour and returned even with some flowers that she could use to clean her hair.

When she got back the orc was up, sipping stew from the bowl he had used last night. She was quiet enough that he did not hear her until she walked through the trees and into the camp, when she was almost in front of him.

He grunted to her nonchalantly in greeting and she returned a small wave. She put her collection of leaves and flowers next to the pile of wood, still feeling embarrassed for her actions last night and decided she would eat later. He had told her of the human settlement just down the hill and she had made up her mind to go there and look for clothes or anything that would be useful to her.

She didn't tell Garrok'Nha where she was going and he didn't ask, although he was curious he decided not to dog her. She seemed happy today, her walk was bouncy and her cheeks were brushed with colour. He had not let himself be seen by her last night as she danced and initially felt guilty that he had seen what felt like such an intimate and private moment. He had watched for a few minutes and then crawled back under his skins. It felt like hours while he lay there and eventually she had come inside. Putting more wood on the fire she pulled her blankets over her, despite being wet, and slept fitfully.

Today she had been up before him which was highly unusual, she moved like she had plan in mind, as if she was ticking her chores off a checklist. Before she was out of earshot he even heard her humming to herself. He grunted to himself in laughter, that little one would not stop surprising him and he was growing rather fond of her presence.

It took her a good half an hour to get the the settlements and she was somewhat creeped out at how the people who had been living here had just left, leaving everything behind them. What had happened that they had given up their shelter and what little precious possessions they had?

She walked carefully around at what had been little houses and even barns. The roofs had crashed down years ago leaving the contents of the small houses open to the elements. She hesitated before entering, standing outside the small house that had been closest to her she felt that she would be intruding if she just barged in. Slowly lifting her hand to the door she knocked gently and waited. The only thing that answered was the wind, tugging at her hair and caressing her face softly. She seemed reassured by it and gently pushed what was left of a wooden door open so that she could pass through.

There was something not right here, she knew she was alone but there was something else, something that was making her very uncomfortable. This place felt busy, busy like people were rushing and pushing passed her but there was no one around. She decided to ignore the feeling and walked further into the house. It was a simple design, square with only a separate room what she guessed would have been used as a toilet or bathroom. What really caught her eyes was the chest and the cupboard that still stood in the room. The chest seemed unlocked so she opened it first, there was a small locket, hair brush, a mirror and other small decorative ornaments that had been stored. She felt guilty for taking the hair brush which had been sitting for so long in its little home that it had gathered a thick layer of dust, but it was something she could put to good use.

She went from house to house, collecting things she thought would be useful to her and to the orc. She wondered a lot about how or why these people had left and found no bones or remains of anything other than what possibly could have been an old deer.

She had been gone for more than a few hours but Garrok'Nha was not worried. The land was calm and clear today and he made up his mind to look for big animals to hunt. He was grateful for the squirrels and rabbits but he longed for a good piece of fatty boar meat, a piece of meat that could make his belly full.

He did not plan to travel far so did not require food for the travel, he took a few gulps of water before he left and picked up his axe. The warm breakfast had put him in a good mood and he had high hopes for today. Already gutted and skinned were two rabbits which the traps had managed to capture. Although he didn't want to leave the meat out on its own it looked like he didn't have much of a choice, he tucked it into some leather and left them in the cave making sure to cover the cave entrance up.

He left quickly hoping to make the most out of the day.

Just a few minutes later, Lilly walked back up into the clearing of the cave. She had no sight of the orc but that didn't bother her. She laid out the little treasures she had found and felt that she was entirely lucky and grateful to have found such small mundane objects.

A small silver hair brush, a large piece of purplish, sheer cloth that she thought could be hung in the cave entrance, a silver vase (not practical as such but she had taken it anyway), a ring that had a long oval opal centre with a thick, braided, silver band around it. This piece of jewelry had caught her eye, she had taken it and then placed it back where she had found it, feeling guilty. Eventually before she decided to make her way back up to the small camp she had gone back to get it apologetically.

Another batch of animal skins that the orc had missed, a necklace with a small circular pendant (again not useful but she had taken a liking to how it had shone in the sun), a small, empty leather pouch, a set of knives (some of which were horribly blunt), a pair of well made leather boots, a few books (for her own entertainment), two well made sewing needles and some thread, rope, another three pots to cook or use as containers and most importantly clothes.

Most were plain working dresses, either white or black but she had also found a beautifully woven silky overthrow, a pair of thick leather, riding pants and a well tailored shirt. She was happy with the few pieces she had found as she wanted to be rid of the threadbare clothes that still smelt of the orc camp.

Before she left for her bath she finished all the chores she had set herself. Picking a few potatoes and carrots. She had been quite excited when she accidently stumbled upon a bush of ripening raspberries. She picked a few while she laughed at her excitement. _It's the small things_ she thought, chuckling away to herself as she popped a few in her mouth and put some in the pouch she had found.

For the first time in a long time, since before she had even been captured by the orcs she was _happy._ She had things to do, a reason to keep herself moving and she had a friend.

Well she wasn't entirely sure if he was a friend but he had certainly not done harm to her, he had provided her with meat and shelter. Maybe acquaintance was a better word -

She stopped in her tracks, a few potatoes spilling from her arms.

 _He was an Orc._ What was she _THINKING?_ She was living in a cave with a orc that had belonged to the warband that had passed through to this land. He didn't belong here and he never would. She had seen how merciless they had been, how they killed without thought and here she was thinking that he was a friend? No, that wasn't right. This whole situation was just a mess.

But he helped me, he took me away from that... _hellhole._

Well that didn't matter did it? He could easily kill her now, he was bigger and much stronger than she was and nothing was stopping him from just walking back right back into the orc camp.

 _No._

 _Yes._

The voice in her head demanded that she listen, she didn't know where all these doubts had come from all of a sudden but it had made a good point. She desperately tried to defend the orc who had helped her, fed her and sheltered her but the voice was ruthless its attacks and by the time she had picked up all the potatoes off the ground her panic had set in.

She walked quickly back to the camp and put the food she had collected in the cave, taking another raspberry to eat for good measure. She took a bowl and helped herself to what was left of the stew. The orc had left more than enough for her.

 _He had made sure that I would have enough food._

The voice in her head was berating her efforts now as well as his. She desperately needed to clear her head, what she had thought was the voice of reason at first was slowly chipping away at her resolve.

She stared at the stew for what felt like hours. Her thoughts, spurred on by the condescending voice, went rampaging through her mind. They kicked up memories of the past, memories of the orcs and memories of being captured that she had tried so hard to forget.

No. She decided quickly that she could not let this continue, this was not her. Definitely not her. Standing defiantly she knew exactly what would force this _thing_ from her head. Grabbing the leaves and flowers that she had collected earlier she ran to the little river. Everything in her head was telling her to stop, everything but that one little voice of reason in her head, the quiet one, the one that was fading fast. She held onto its light desperate for its glow in the darkness that had begun to cloud her mind.

She fought with her body until she found the right spot along the river, a place where she could fully submerge herself. She didn't hesitate, crashing into the small body of water she felt her chest tighten from the coldness of it. She let herself sink to the bottom, her eyes wide open, watching as green tendrils swirled around her before retreating back out of the water.

Her head was now clear, the darkness that was enclosing around it had vanished. Her mind was sharper than ever, she could see the small stones at the bottom of her feet, they shone out at her brightly with different colours. The little fish that had hidden away from this sudden disruption were quietly coming back out from behind the rocks, she could see their little scales. Her breath was starting to run short so she slowly started to stand up, fearing the tendrils would grasp hold of her mind again but there was nothing. For a few minutes she stood crouched on the riverbed floor with only her neck and head appearing from the water, she could feel the soft tug as the water flowed past her and she let it carry her softly until she decided it was safe to stand.

 _What was that?_

She had some sort of idea, she had seen the green magic tendrils before but never as close as she had seen them now.

If this was who she thought it to be, they were both in great, urgent danger.

Garrok'Nha was traveling back from a half successful hunting trip. Hanging over a shoulder was a large stag that he had managed to catch off guard and kill. Although it was no boar meat, the animal would provide them with enough meat for two or three days and he planned to eat his belly full. He was not particularly paying any heed to his surroundings but when a soft movement caught his eye from the river he stopped walking and turned to look.

His curiosity had started out innocently enough, he quietly walked to a nearby tree and stood behind it, coming clearly into view in front of him and partly submerged in water was the small tooth human. She had taken her clothes off and had her back to him, scars from her whipping were etched darkly into her skin. She was rubbing something into her hair thoroughly before dipping down and rinsing it off. Her body had started to fill out now with regular meals and was not altogether unpleasing to look at.

He turned quickly and stalked away, she hadn't heard his approach and so he doubted she would hear him leaving. He did not wish to invade her privacy and already felt guilty by letting his gaze linger. Anger started to well up inside his chest, she had been up here by herself couldn't she see how dangerous that was? She hadn't even heard him approaching her if there was something actively hunting her she wouldn't stand a -

He stopped himself from going further, she had every reason to bath if she wanted too. She was still close enough to get back to the cave safely, he had no right to be angry with her. He stopped walking and stood quietly, he needed to admit to himself _why_ this had bothered him so much.

This small toothed human had _aroused_ him. The lines of her body were soft and delicate, although she was much too thin for his liking, her body had put on weight and she was starting to fill out.

He pushed the thoughts from his head and carried on walking to the cave, the animal on his shoulders needed to be skinned and gutted. He tried to quell the blood rushing through his body, he had no business being attracted to her and he knew it. He hadn't been angry at her, he had been angry at himself. Once he knew he was out of her earshot he stomped the ground as hard as he could to get the annoyance and arousal out of his system.

At was at least an hour until she arrived back into camp, she made her entrance quietly and with a frown on her face. Nodding to the orc in greeting she was eager to get into the new clothes she had found. Ducking into the cave she dressed in the white dress and riding pants, her old clothes she would keep for good measure, there was no use throwing things away now.

He knew there was something wrong,or rather he could feel it, something was bothering her. He left her to do as she wished, she would tell him sooner or later and if it was urgent rather sooner than later.

She slipped the boots onto her bare feet and finally felt clean, her hair felt clean and soft, she smelt nice again. For a short few seconds she reveled in her cleanness and smell but there were more pressing matters at hand that she needed to attend too.

When she stepped outside the massive orc and small human stared at each other awkwardly, he could smell the flowers that she had used on her hair mixed with the crushed leaves she used to clean herself with. Her smell enticed him more than he cared to admit so he broke eye contact and continued to skin the dead animal. She sat down on a big piece of log that was resting on the ground and crossed a leg over her knee.

 _Why did she have to sit like that? It's so distracti-_

"I need to talk to you, it's-" She struggled to find the word, she didn't know it Orcish.

"It's?"

He could hear that he was struggling with her words and so he abruptly dug the knife as far he could into the ground before straightening his back proudly and looked at her. She started to become nervous when she saw how impatient he had become.

"How far can Gul'dans magic travel?"

He shrugged his answer,no. He had never seen how far Gul'dans magic could travel and he did not wish to know either. Gul'dan was an issue that he didn't know how to face, he needed allies if he was going to ever have a chance of defeating the old orc.

"I think that I saw him today -"

That snapped him back right into reality, his eyes locked on hers and he saw the fear and the concern that had etched themselves into them

"How?"

She didn't know what to say, she didn't know how to explain. He could see that she was working herself up into a frenzy trying to get the message across to him, she burst into her native tongue and the flurry of words that rushed out of her mouth were unintelligible to him. He held up his hands and stood up, there was no use for her panic. He gently took her hands, which were fluttering around aimlessly as she spoke and pulled them to her sides, quelling her frantic movement.

"Slowly and from the beginning."

She desperately explained to him, in a language she was not fluent in, what she had seen and how badly it had clouded her mind. He sat and waited with as much patience as he could muster for her finish.

 _Could Gul'dans magic really reach so far?_

He didn't actually know and it bothered him. He did not disbelieve the small tooth, she was clearly upset and although she was trying to hide it he could sense her fear, it was so strong he could almost smell it. She had given him no reason to distrust her and the urgency that had been present in her voice had concerned him greatly.

"I'm not going back there." It was barely a whisper, more a soft squeak. He let go of her hands, which had balled up into fists and sat opposite her. He had felt her shaking, if her fear was manifesting physically then what had seen must have truly shook her to the core.

"Gul'dan will not send his precious warbands to find one human." He was thinking out loud now and absently pulling at the piercings in his lips. "He would not spend resources unless he had some type of major use for you."

"Well maybe he is looking for you?"

He grunted in response, she made an extremely valid point but he wasn't sure each way. If Gul'dan had been desperate enough to use magic to find their location then he very well could send a few orcs after them.

But why would he? Why would he waste those resources on one orc and one human?

He could answer his own question. He was a traitor, the orcs would like nothing more than to bring back and kill him in front of The Horde, it would boost their morale greatly. And she? Well she would go back into the cages. No, he was wrong, she would make sure they killed her before she got near the orc camp again.

Both of them remained quiet until she stood quietly, walking over to where he had placed his battle axe she looked at it for a few seconds before heaving it into her arms.

It was much heavier than she expected, at first she stumbled around trying to find her balance before walking, or at least trying to and stopping in front of him. The few meters that she walked with the axe in her hand had already exhausted her. She had broken out in a thin sheen of sweat and her face had flushed red with exhaustion.

"You're gonna need this, probably." She added. He took the axe from her, using one hand he swung it around deftly in his fingers, the axe whistling through the air.

"Yeah, yeah I know you're just showing off." Despite her worry a smile crept to her face. He grinned back at her. He was not worried as much as she was and after her short frenzied explaining she had become aloof again but that was better than panic. He had been impressed that she had actually been able to lift the weapon, she was stronger than he had thought.

"If it's going to make you feel better, I'll put some traps around the perimeter."

 _If it's going to make you feel better -_

She nodded in response, suddenly embarrassed about herself. She stood uncomfortably in front of him before deciding to sit back down. She was starting to become more aware of his presence around her and despite their differences she liked it. She liked _him._ With everything that he had done he had taken what she wanted or needed into consideration. He was willing to put in hard work just to make her feel better.

"We can start tomorrow."

She looked up at him from her seat and crossed her legs again -

 _Why does she have to sit like that?_

-and taking her hair over her shoulder she started to run her fingers through it.

"We should start today." He watched her as she started to braid her hair. It was a dark brown, almost black and shone keenly in the sun.

"It's already getting dark."

She looked around in response, he was right, it was getting dark but it was still light enough for an hour or two. She undid the lace from the top of her dress, it was high enough to keep her modestly even if it was slightly open and used it at the bottom of her braid.

"Well, I'm going to start now, I found some rope I can use."

"Where did you find all of this? You have new clothes too."

His assumption had turned out to be right as she pointed towards the old human settlement, she dusted off the dress she was wearing. Standing up, she flung her braid behind her back and stretched herself. For a moment she admired the massive animal that he had been skinning before she arrived, her admiration had not gone unnoticed by the orc who noted how big the animal was against the human.

"We can roast it."

She considered for a moment and added, "It's big so it's going to take a couple of should keep the skin."

He nodded in agreement as she collected the rope and wrapped around her shoulder in a loop.

"Can you stay and roast it?"

The orc nodded again, he would be glad for her absence. She had been at the back of his mind all day and now that she was standing in front of him he found, uncomfortably, that she was shrouding his mind and now that she had bathed he could smell her, smell her through the flowers and leaves she had used.

His distraction was highly aggravating to him, it was not normal that he be distracted by anything as trivial as this and it confused him greatly. This small toothed human was wreaking havoc in his mind and she had no idea. For a second she looked at him questioningly, she could almost feel his irritation, it radiated from his body but she couldn't put her finger on what was wrong.

She dismissed the idea that he was irritated with her, he had no reason to be, before she looked around at her surroundings. She walked away slowly contemplating about the best place to set up traps and the orc was glad to see her go. He set up a the roast once he was done skinning it and started a fire up. He let his mind run with his thoughts, thinking of everything from Lilly to Gul'dan. If the orcs came he would be ready but he doubted that they would even bother, sending orcs out just for two people? That wasn't how they worked but it worried him none the less.

He knew for the next few days she would be wound up with worry, the best thing he could do was to prepare her for battle.

He was hoping that she would be strong enough.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE ~ Roasting

Garrok'Nha sat quietly watching the flickering flames below the roasting meat. It was dark when Lilly eventually returned to the camp, the rope was still wrapped around her shoulder and she was panting while she hurled herself up to the fire.

She dumped the rope down and slumped down onto the ground, infuriated that she had not been able to set up a trap by herself. She had tried, desperately, to set up one, just one but had eventually given up and decided to scour the area instead for places to set them.

"How did it go?" He asked her teasingly, this small tooth was clearly frustrated and her face was flushed red with her exertion.

She sniffed softly, "It didn't."

He chuckled softly, she was not impressed with his reaction and shuffled over to the log she had sat on earlier. Leaning against it she spread her legs out, bending them slightly at the knee and crossed her arms, her braid hung over her shoulder and her face brushed with colour.

She looked _pretty_. Garrok'Nha, who had nothing else to compare her to other than female orcs was quite taken with this little human and her features which seems to contradict themselves, sharp but soft. Her eyes reflected the fire that was burning before her.

There was a soft silence between them, the fire sparked up and the smell of the roasted meat filled both of their senses. They were comfortable with each other, comfortable with their silence.

"Why didn't you kill me?"

He looked down to her and found her gaze and there it was again. That connection, the connection that sent floods of emotions rushing through his body, the look in her eyes told him that she was feeling it too, there was confusion and resistance lingering within them. They looked at each other for a few seconds, their hearts beat as one, they breathed the same air and he realised that she _knew_ why he had saved her for she too had felt the connection that day they had fought.

"You know why."

They did not break eye contact, his eyes, gold flicked with brown were looking into her soul. She felt as if he had laid her out naked in front of him, laid her out for him to look at.

She unconsciously wrapped her arms around her body.

"Do you feel that?" Her voice was soft and low, it grumbled in her chest before it whispered from her lips.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

He didn't know, she knew he didn't know but she had asked anyway, she could see the apprehension in his eyes, he was not resisting it like she was but he was cautious..

They both sat in deafening silence but it wasn't deafening to them, there nothing about this small tooth that he wasn't curious about. As she sat there looking at him she could feel his curiosity burning into her skin but it didn't make her feel uncomfortable in anyway.

"What do you want to know then?"

He contemplated her question for a few seconds, the feeling of their connection had sapped away but it still lingered on in their minds. Questions flooded into his mind but he didn't know where to start.

"Where do you come from?"

She uncrossed her arms and sat up straight while looking into the fire.

"A far away village more than 6 months travel by foot. I wasn't born there but I remember living there from when I was little." She looked back up to him questionly, he sat proud and tall looking back at her. For the first time in years she felt a strong pang of attraction that was pulling her gaze towards him and she wondered if he felt it too.

"You have no family?"

She shook her head, no. He was prying into things that she not thought about for a very long time. She didn't truly know if she wanted him to know or not but what would the harm be?

"My mother sold me when I was young to a slave trader. She took a - " She paused here, looking for the right words, "She took a liking to me and decided that she was going to use me for her own purposes. I guess she saw me as her daughter but she was the only family I had."

"Your own mother sold you?"

"People will do anything when they desperate." She replied softly to him.

"Is it normal in your culture?"

"No."

There was silence for a few seconds. The fat from the meat dripped slowly into the fire causing sparks to fly upwards.

She looked into the sky, up to the stars and sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder if she ever misses me." Her voice was soft against the night, so soft he almost didn't hear her.

That was something she had never told anyone before, not her friends, not her lovers, not even the woman she grew up with. She passed this information into the orcs hands, not hesitantly but with great relief, it was off her chest and she needed that greatly.

She felt the orc sit down next to her, his massive body next her small one. She could feel how welcoming his heat was and instinctively moved closer to him, close enough that her shoulders and knees pressed against his. She held no embarrassment for her actions this time, he had come to her and she had just closed the distance. He was somewhat surprised by her but comfortable with it none the less.

She rested a head softly on her shoulder and sighed wearily, looking up at him he saw that her eyes were filled with unshed tears.

"Do you think she misses me?"

There was silence for a few seconds as he looked back down at her.

"I don't know." He genuinely did not know and the look on her face told him that she knew she had asked him an unfair question.

He took his arm and placed it gently but firmly around her shoulders, his arm was heavy on her but she liked it, she liked its comfort.

"I would miss you."

For a moment she stared at him before she snorted ungracefully in a fit of laughter.

"You?" Her body heaved with her mirth, her tears of grief now running down her face as she laughed. "You barely know me."

He was smiling back at her, this was the first time he had seen her laugh and he decided that he quite liked it.

"Why does that amuse you?"

"Because you are an orc and I'm a human. Would you really miss me?" At her question he pulled her closer to his body and squeezed gently.

"Yes, I would really miss you." He would genuinely miss this small toothed human, he had not been this comfortable with anyone in his life before, not even the mother of his child.

She had stopped laughing now, still smiling she looked up at him with those big eyes, big eyes that he could so easily get lost in and was softly biting her lower.

"I've never met anyone like you before."

"Well I have only been here three months."

His response sent her into another small fit of laughter before wiping her face off and leaning back against his arm, looking to the sky.

"You make me laugh, orc."

"I'm glad I could be of some sort of service, human."

She giggled again and they remained silent for a while. Lilly could feel the heat from the orcs body on her skin and it was making her tingle, he was warm and welcoming. When he had put his arm around her she had not been surprised but excited, their proximity had stirred up feelings that she had not felt for anyone in a while.

"How old are you?"

"If I tell you my age, will you tell me yours?"

He nodded in response, he guessed that she wasn't very old, she had small character lines by her eyes but none by her mouth. Her skin was clear with beauty spots under her eye, on her jawline and just above her upper lip and she had a few freckles splashed here and there. On her pale skin they barely stood out.

"I'm twenty five."

He snorted at her, "You're just a baby."

"I feel like I've gone through too much to be _just a baby."_ She turned her eyes from the stars to him, he understood what she had said perfectly and although her face held no wrinkles, her eyes portrayed some of her struggles. He knew he at not yet even touched the tip of the iceberg.

"Well then? You said you would tell me yours."

"Thirty eight."

There was silence for a few seconds, he could see by the huge smirk on her face that she was suppressing another fit of laughter which she failed at when she saw the look he shot at her.

"It's not that old." He grunted with amusement and she nodded in agreement still laughing. They sat for a while, cloaked in the darkness knowing that they had all the time they would need for now, the roast was not close to being done yet and Lilly ran her hand over a hungry stomach as it growled.

She got up slowly, reluctant to leave Garrok'Nha's warmth and found the pouch of raspberries that she had flung somewhere into the cave in her haste to reach the river. She back down, almost on top of him and offered him a few. Taking his wrist in her hands she put his arm back around her shoulders, much to the amusement of the big orc.

"What are these?"

"Berries." She popped a few in her mouth and savoured the sweetness of them, although they weren't fully ripe it had been the first sweet thing she had eaten in what felt like years. The orc took a few hesitantly and tried them and decided after a few chews that he didn't much care for them. Handing what was left of the berries back to her she shrugged against him.

"Fine, more for me, Grandpa."

He let out a harsh grunt of laughter and softly balled his hand in a fist, bumping her gently with it.

"What will you do if we ever get out of here?"

That was a question that she had not considered before, she frowned and sat up a bit straighter.

"I don't know, I might have to go back to what I did before your people imprisoned me."

"And what did you do?"

"I was a hunter." She rested her head against his arm again and turned to look up at him, "I would sell the meat and the animal skins. It made good money but it was hard work."

She remained silent for a while, the orc did not push her, he sensed that she was thinking about what to say next.

"I remember the day they came." She was speaking softly now, looking at him. He could see the horror burning like embers in her eyes.

"I was standing on a wall just outside a small village." A small smile touched her lips, "I loved standing on that stupid wall."

Standing on the wall on the outskirts of the village, Lilly gracefully walked along it. This small action had become a habit for her after months of trading with them. She would jump up onto the wall while leading her big, dappled grey horse, Proppin, and walk along it slowly until she reached the gate.

The people of the village had come to know her well, although her skins were expensive they were always of good quality and well made. No one in the neighbouring villages could rival her hunting and skinning skills and so she had quickly become a welcome sight for the weary villagers.

Today was no different. It had been a good day, her horse was burdened with the task of carrying the skins she had for sale but the massive beast was not hindered by their weight. Ready for today she had a few skins for orders that had been placed, the rest were for sale. She knew she would make a good sum of gold for the ordered skins. The animals, although not rare, had been difficult to find, they lived far up in the mountains and she had had to track them relentlessly over a few weeks.

The sky was overcast with dark, storm clouds which were gathering quickly. To anyone else it was bad omen but for her it was a sign of great things to come. For a moment she stood still, looking up into the clouds that promised to bring rain before starting on her way again. Although her skins have been packaged and were covered with water resistant leather she would rather deliver them dry and ready for use as they were now.

She had been in earlier that day selling meat and had sold most of her stock, now she was back to deliver skins and attempt to sell a few too. She urged her horse on, she was fond of this war horse, a horse she bought from an old soldier who could not afford his upkeep. He was well looked after and fit, his coat shone and muscles rippled under his skin. She used him for long distance travelling and often he would accompany her on her hunts.

Although the horse was not quick to spook or take fright he was now standing very still, looking off into the distance his ears were pricked forward and he was blowing air out of his nose, hard.

She looked to where the horse was looking suddenly uneasy by his fright, there was nothing. A few trees here or there eventually flooded into thick forest and past a few meters into the woods it was impossible to see. The horse lowered his head and blew harder, at this sign she quickly jumped off the wall and started briskly walking to the entrance of the town.

If Proppin had sensed a threat and was worried by it then she was too. The massive horse had faced off against wolves, large wild cats and even huge griffons. Nothing deterred this horses resolve so when he suddenly became skittish and scared she started to run to the village with him quickly in tow behind her.

Once inside the walls of the village she made quick work to drop off orders, collected money that was owed to her and attempted to sell the leftover skins. Proppin however was becoming more and more frantic, as were the other horses and animals in the village. She did not see one dog or cat crossing the streets. The horses that had been held up in barns were quickly becoming panicky and restless.

It was when her horse started shrieking in terror and rearing up to get away that she knew something terrible was about to happen. She warned whoever she could before dumping the leftover skins onto the ground, untying a quiver and bow from the horse's back, weapons she never travelled without, and mounted up quickly.

Rushing to a close companions residence she urgently called him out, he opened the door hesitantly before realising it was her and then burst out the house with his arms wide open.

"Henry, get on the horse-"

"Aye Lilly! Yer a sight fer sore eyes-"

"HENRY."

He looked confused for a split second before he slumped to the ground, his eyes darted downwards to the axe that jutted out of his chest, it had been thrown with such force that his chest had sickeningly been concaved. Blood spluttered and spewed out from the wound and when he looked back up at her the look in his eyes broke her heart.

 _He knew he was going to die._

"What was -"

His voice was drowned out by a booming sound that echoed through the forest. It was so loud that houses shook in their foundations. Proppin reared up and let out a harrowing scream, Lilly's head snapped to the forest. The axe and the sound had come from the same direction. And that sound... she knew others like it. None had been so loud and ominous as this bellow, this was a war horn.

She looked back to what once had been a close friend and lover and found him laid out on the ground, he was already dead. It was with great reluctance that she spurred the horse on, he lept forward, finally able to run from the threat as his legs pounded beneath him.

Villagers were coming out of their small houses greatly alarmed by the call of the horn, Proppin managed to weave between them, with his rider laid flat out on his back he had no other interests than getting out of this danger zone. They were coming close to the edge of the town, Lilly didn't know what was happening or where to turn and her confusion was mirrored by her horses frantic movements. It was at this moment that she saw them, saw them streaming out of the forest. Big, massive, men -

No, men wasn't quite the right word. Giants was a better description. Her heart which had been pounding in her chest dropped as she saw how well armoured they were, how big the weapons that they wielded were. She could hear them roaring, roaring as they rushed to the little unguarded village.

But the axe and the horn had come from the other side of the village which meant that -

 _It meant that they had been surrounded._

Other people were starting to scream now at the sight of these creatures rushing towards them, there were no soldiers, no protectors. The village had been a peaceful one for centuries. Franticly halting her terrified horse she tried to look around for an escape route. Her body turned cold with horror as she realised there was none.

 _They had planned this whole thing. There was nowhere to run._

And that was it, all she needed. An eerie calm descended upon her. Her mind cleared and time slowed, even her horse stilled. There was _something_ she could do. Pulling her bow over her shoulders she readied it for an arrow. Despite how time had seemed to slow for her she moved quickly and effortlessly. Notching her first arrow she took aim carefully and fired, within a few moments she had loosed another five arrows. Each of them hit their mark all but one, it had pierced right through one of the green beast's chest but he was still running, running and roaring right towards the village.

She notched another arrow and felled the green beast that had already had a arrow sticking out of his chest. The closer they got to the village the more her panic set in, her horse who had waited patiently for her to loose her arrows was now rearing up in undiluted terror. It was not fair to let him die here and as he reared a second time she slipped off his back. Riding him out would be both their death warrants and the panicky animal was throwing off her aim.

She stood still against the fleeing villagers, notching another arrow she shot another of the giants. Quickly she spun around, dodging an axe that had been thrown in her general direction, she lept onto an empty trough and pulling herself onto a roof of the nearest house. It gave her the vision she needed, notching another arrow she aimed to kill rather than maim, her mind, although panicked, was clear and cool.

In her peripheral vision she could see her horse plowing through them, they were leaving the big horse alone and despite her situation she let the relief flood her body and focus her mind even more.

By time the green, ugly, beasts had reached the edge of the village she had felled twelve of them. Her killings had not gone unnoticed and the first few of the monsters that rushed into the village went straight for the archer that had broken their ranks.

She dropped her bow and quiver, they were too close for her to use them now, and took out a small but sharp skinning knife, it was gold and adorned with small glittering gems but that wouldn't matter if these … _things_ managed to get hold of her.

She quickly turned and started to run over the roof, trying to move away from the beasts that had started to chase her, her legs pounded beneath her but with dismay she saw how quickly they could out run her. One the creatures was pulling himself up to the roof just before her, she skidded to a halt and kneeled quickly next to his hands. For a brief second they froze, staring at each other before she swiped the sharp knife angrily at his face. The blade sunk into his eye, she found little resistance before there was a wet slurping sound as the beast before her roared in agony. Taking no time to contemplate what she had done, she pulled the knife as hard as she could from the flailing creature and continued to run.

She was lucky the first few times to small enough distance between the roofs of the houses to jump to the next one but her space to run was quickly running out. She realised quickly that the beasts had over taken her, some of them were climbing onto the rooftops after her and others were waiting for her to just fall.

As she was running she could see that there were villagers being hauled up to the beast's shoulders and being carried away.

 _But why? What are they going to do with us?_

Other than Henry she had not seen them kill anyone, her confusion slowed her body and when she felt a hand wrap around her ankle she comically hung in mid air for a second before she pulled off the roof by a massive green giant. She did not have the strength to contest his pull and so she was flung onto the ground, landing hard enough that she was abruptly winded.

The beast, who still had her ankle, was towering over her. There was a satisfied leer on his face and in those few brief seconds her blood ran cold. They were much bigger and stronger than humans. They were _huge_ , bulging muscles were displayed through shoulder pieces and thick leather pants but it was their teeth that terrified her the most. Two big tusks jutted out of their lower jaws, some of them were adorned with rings or piercings but every whatever-these-creatures-were had the huge tusks. Males and females were rushing past her while the beast continued to leer.

She felt the smooth handle of the skinning knife still in her hand and with precision and resolve lifted it up and plunged it into the giants wrist. It sank easily between the beat's two forearm bones, the blade protruded slightly from its exit wound. The beast looked at the knife and then looked back to the small human, his face broke out in a crooked grin.

 _What the hell is going on-_

He picked her up by her ankle with the knife still jutting out of his wrist and threw her as hard as he could into one of the walls of the houses. He watched for a moment as her body trembled and her mind blacked out.

Garrok'Nha sighed slowly, although he had not been there himself he had heard tales of how one small human had killed a number of the orcs. After she had finished telling him what had happened he assumed that it must have been her.

She sat quietly for a few minutes after that, unconsciously she had snuggled closer to him and when she had started to shake he had closed his hand around her shoulder and pulled her close.

"Do humans leave their villages unguarded?"

"Well, it was a small village, far away from other big towns. It didn't need guarding until the orcs came along."

He nodded in response and she leaned back into this arm again. He could only guess the amount of fear that she would have felt, when she spoke she had not cried or showed her emotion. The only thing that she had done was shake.

"Have you ever had a child?"

She shook her head in response, "No, but you had a family didn't you?"

"Yes."

There was silence again between them.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He grunted softly in response, "I don't know, it's been - a while."

It had been a good few years since Gul'dan had sent his green orcs to kill them, his wife and child had been mercilessly killed in front of him. She did not push the subject, it was not something she wanted to force him into telling her.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that, it must have been really hard."

This small human had compassion for him, after what the orcs had done to her she was looking up at him with understanding and the feeling that shone from her eyes made his breath hitch in his throat. She took the hand around her shoulder and squeezed his fingers reassuringly.

Both stared into the fire, there was no more talking between and both were quickly becoming tired. It was just a few minutes before she leaned all her weight against him and slumped. The small tooth had fallen asleep against his chest.

He grumbled softly and proudly. This small gesture of trust had pleased him, almost for no reason. The feelings he had for this human were greatly confusing to him, it had been the first time in his life that he had met someone of a different race that didn't want to immediately kill him on sight.

Actually he wasn't so sure about that, if she had had the means she probably would have killed him but fate had played its old, twisted hand against her and she had been forced to rely on the orc.

And now here she was sleeping against him and soundly. Her breathing was slow and heavy, her skin glowed in the fire light and he was quite happy to sit and let her sleep comfortably.


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's note:_ I'm sorry it took me so long to write this chapter, I had a really hectic weekend :( Enjoy!

CHAPTER SIX ~ Honourable

It been three days since Lilly had seen the green tendrils snaking away from her body in the water and she knew that they were coming. She had insisted that the orc help her to set up traps, as she did not have the strength to do it herself and he had begrudgingly followed her around to set the precautions up.

The stag had supplied them with more than enough food, Garrok'Nha had eaten his belly full and could feel his strength returning, the human had started to put on weight from the fatty meat and she too was getting stronger by the day.

She often helped him chop wood, she would sit and make tinder while he cut off branches and added them to the wood pile. With food not being a major priority he felt like for the first time in weeks he could properly relax. Not sit around and do nothing relax, but not have to worry about food or water.

With Lilly now up and pulling her weight around the camp they were getting things done quicker. She had made him a new pair of pants from a few of the animal skins she had found that still had thick hair on them. She sewed them so that the animal hair was inside the pants against his skin. She had also gone back to the old human settlement, she had done her best to convince him to go with before she reluctantly agreed to go on her own.

She managed to scrounge up a small, badly broken bow and although she had also looked for arrows she had not seen any. She was quite happy with her find and placed it on the cave for later use, planning to fix it.

There was an excess of food around the camp now, the stag had been big enough than what both of them could eat so small scraps of food were snuck out by the small human and put into a little clearing a few minutes away from the camp for animals.

She often kept watch nervously outside the cave, waiting for orcish soldiers and he knew she would not rest until they came. Between chores she had started to carve wood for her bow and they often bantered together as they worked.

Snares and traps for rabbits and squirrels had been taken down as to not overuse resources in the area, although it had not been of major concern to the orc, the little human had insisted and of course, he had ended up showing here where they were placed so that she could dismantle them.

By the fourth day she had worked herself up into a frenzy, Garrok'Nha had taken her by her shoulders and told her firmly to go and wash. The water would calm her mind and she needed time to clear her thoughts. He promised her that he would take watch while she was away and told her to take the time she needed.

And so she had listened to him, taking some time to pick some of the same leaves and flowers she used to bath herself with, she felt that she was starting to calm down. She was grateful to the orc, he often remained level headed when she panicked.

Why was she so panicky anyway? There had not even been a single _sign_ that anyone was near, never mind orcs, surely they would leave some sort of track. She started humming to herself softly as she walked, she found herself in the same place that she had bathed in last time. She set a new, clean dress down with the flowers and leaves, while she was here she would clean the one she was currently wearing.

She looked around quickly before stripping down into her underwear. Her breasts had once again swelled up now that she was eating regular meals so she had cut her old clothes into strips so that she could bandage up her breasts in a makeshift bra. Although not pretty by any means, it was the best that she could do with what she had and it had worked well, she would bind them before going about her chores and today she decided that she would wash the bindings.

Unfortunately for her, nature was still taking its monthly course, when she had been imprisoned the stress and hardship of her situation had stopped her from menstruating, something which she had been grateful for. Others had not been so lucky, having to suffer ridicule from the humans as well as the orcs. She tried not to think about those times, in hindsight she was eternally grateful that she had been one of the lucky ones.

Rape had run rampant through the imprisonment, not by the orcs but by the humans themselves. They had taken advantage of the forced proximity to take what they wanted, which often included other people. More often than not the orcs would intervene and take the offending party from out of old cage and into a new one. These small, restricted cages were known amongst the other prisoners as the rape pens.

The orcs seemed to know of the term for no other captives were placed in the rape pens. Each prison had built its own intricate society within the cages. Leaders were often elected and would fight off other inhabitants for the responsibility.

It had not been easy for anyone. Once the humans had realised what they had been captured for, word and panic had quickly spread. They caused mass mayhem, anyone who was not strong or big enough to fend for themselves was killed off. Babies and children had been the first to die and it was a terrible death, they were trampled against the ground or suffocated against bodies of other people while their frantic mothers had tried to fight the rampaging crowd off.

Lilly stopped undressing herself and breathed slowly in, she had witnessed all of the atrocities. The orcs had merely captured the humans but the humans themselves had been their own undoing. It had gotten worse when they realised that food for them was not a huge concern of the orcs. Prisons with good leaders and cooperative people would collect the food, pool it together and then share it. This method of sharing only lasted for few days before the humans had become desperate enough to start hoarding and stealing food. It had been another week before the first killing solely for the purpose of obtaining someone else's food.

She had not been the first one to kill for food and neither was she the last. Now that she was well fed and had been looking after herself she was terribly ashamed of what she had done. She understood why she had done it but the thoughts dogged her none the less. Killing someone for food had been an act of pure desperation.

She grunted unappreciatively at the thoughts that been piercing her mind and started to fold the scraps of cloth around her waist and between her legs. It was the best thing that she could think of when she had started menstruating but the thin cloth barely kept her flow contained and she was starting to struggle to find clean unused cloth to use.

She put everything she planned to wash within reaching distance and dipped into the water. It was _cold._ She made up her mind to bath as quickly as she could, which she did, before rinsing off the blood on the cloth she had used to stem her menstrual flow. When she was done she could see that they were still tinged red with blood, she grumbled in annoyance but it was the best she could do with what she had and would have to use something else in the meantime while these dried.

She pulled herself out of the water, the air stung against her cold skin and goose bumps broke out over her body. Her used the last of the leaves she had to clean her used dress, rubbing away as much dirt as she could manage before rinsing it off in the water.

She dressed in a new dress and wrung her hair out before she collected all her items to take back to the camp. She walked back quickly wanting to get there as soon as she could so that she could find something else to use between her legs, not wanting the blood to spread to her thighs or dress.

The bird chirped beautifully in the trees and the wind rustled softly amongst the leaves. The sun was out and shining brightly between the tree trunks. It was a stunning day, despite the cold,she revelled in its brightness, the warmth from the sun radiated on her back warming her skin up.

When she got back to camp the orc wasn't there, although she wasn't at first alarmed she did wonder where he had gone. She left her wet cloths and dress out in the sun to dry and as she turned around to find clean scraps of cloth a glint on the ground caught her eye.

There, sitting on the ground was the orcs axe. It looked uncomfortable where it was and there was something about the way it was laid out on the grass that made her feel urgently that something was terribly wrong.

She looked around now, trying to find the orc, and quickly came to the conclusion that he was not in the camp. The dirt around the campfire and cave mouth entrance had been hardened from their use of it and barely showed any foot prints. The orc would have _never_ left the camp without his axe. Even when he would go out to urinate or pass out his food he had _always_ taken his axe with. She had never once seen him without it at least being close by.

 _He could have just deserted you._

No, that was highly unlikely. His axe was still here, he would have needed to take food and water, both of which were accounted for. She felt sure, to the very core of her being, that he would have just left her defenseless. She stopped flustering around the camp and tried to still her distressed thoughts. He had not had any plans for today, his waterskins were still all in the camp and he would have told her before she had left to bath if he had plans to go somewhere.

 _Hunting mabe?_

No, he would have taken his axe.

 _He could have been taken._

That was more viable. She scanned slowly around the camp, there was no sign of any upset. Everything was exactly how it had been when she left it. Surely there would have been some sort of scuffle, although where she had bathed was far from the camp she heard the orc roar before and was sure that she would have been able to hear him if he had but she had not heard anything. Even the birds in the trees were still chirping.

She frowned at the axe that was before her, something had happened here and she was determined to find out what. He would not have just left her. She stood in silence for a few seconds, thinking furiously until a theory popped suddenly into her head.

 _He had gone willingly._

He had gone willingly and quietly so that she would not become suspicious and return from her bath to investigate. They had already left the camp and she assumed that they had not looked for her because they were only after the orc. Although she was somewhat relieved by this realisation she was still very much upset that they had taken him. Turning her head to wind she hoped that she would hear something that would give away their position but heard, with dismay, nothing.

She did not know if the orcs had been into the camps or not and decided it would be more productive if she went where the ground had been less disturbed to look for tracks. For a few minutes she had found nothing but as she was about to give up she noticed what seemed to be drag marks that were leading away from the camp.

 _I could follow those-_

She was quick to run back into the camp, she would have to carry his axe to him -

 _He left it here to throw you off._

This thought made her unreasonably angry. Did he not think she wouldn't notice that the axe was an equivalent to a third arm? Did he really think that by leaving it here she would think that he just went for water or hunting? She stomped her feet in irritation and picked up the shaft of the axe. She would have to drag it to where the orcs were and she would have to do it quickly, the anger that had rose in her chest helped her drag it down the hill, she followed the drag marks and footprints into a close cluster of a trees. Here it was much more difficult to maneuver the giant axe and by the time she had made it out her body has covered with sweat, there was an uncomfortable wetness between her legs but she would just have to deal with that later. Garrok'Nha was her main priority right now and a bit of blood would not stop that.

The orcs had taken a steep embankment down to a dried up river bed and they were laughing loudly. When she heard them her blood ran cold.

 _Can I actually do this?_

Yes. She decided that she could. Peeking out from behind some outcropping rocks she spotted their bulky bodies quickly against the land. The orcs surrounding Garrok'Nha were all green and they appeared to be in high spirits after collecting their bounty, who had come with them much more quietly than they were warned.

The brown orc was standing with his hands tied in front of him, he stood proudly and with his shoulders back and head raised. He had gone quietly, his body was unscathed and although he had been eager to hurry the orcs along they had insisted on stopping for something to eat and drink to celebrate their victory. Two of the orcs were not on high alert, she smelt booze in the air and hoped that they were intoxicated enough to become uncoordinated, the other orc that was not drinking (other than their captured prisoner) was standing on guard what what looked like a massive mace and was frowning at his two, rather stupid in his opinion, orc partners.

She slipped behind the rocks again so that she could stay as out of sight as possible. She still had not caught her breath and there was a nasty stitch in her side, the thirty minutes of dragging the axe had exhausted her but she needed to act quickly. The orc with the mace was even bigger than Garrok'Nha, who was already in her opinion, huge, and was going to be her main problem. If she could get this axe in Garrok'Nha's hands then he would be less of a problem.

She was relying solely on having Garrok'Nha unbound and fighting at her side. The massive green orc with the mace would not be intoxicated, he was already standing on guard and she needed to do something to get him off guard. She looked over the rocks again and saw that the two were talking to each other, Garrok'Nha _knew_ this orc, there was a softness between them, a familiarity.

She didn't have _time_ to think about them being friends, she didn't even have time to think about what to do. She heaved the axe up over her shoulders having found it was the most efficient way for her to carry it without tumbling everywhere off balance and started to march out from the behind the rocks.

Garrok'Nha had tried to hurry the orcs and Kodhran had agreed with him. The other two orcs however could not be swayed and when they had sat down to start eating the last of their food he had begun to worry. He knew the human would be quick to bath, the water was too cold for her liking and soon she would be back at camp.

He gone willingly with the orcs but despite his compliance the two brutes had still dragged him from the camp, he had wanted to keep her safe but if they lingered for much longer she would come and find trouble. He had done his best to throw her off, leaving his axe in camp he hoped it would trick her into thinking he had not gone far but deep down he knew that she was smarter than that.

"You were seen with a human, where is she, brother?"

He hesitated at the question, he did not wish to give up her position. He would rather much rather have them kill him so that she could walk free. He turned to Kodhran and opened his mouth to reply.

The green orc held up a big hand to stop him, these two had gone back years. Grown up together and been friends since their first battle at a tender age. When Kodhran's clan had submitted to Gul'dan Garrok'Nha had been devastated but despite their differences they had still remained close friends.

"It is of no importance." Kodhran grunted softly. Although the two oafs were too involved in their meal to have any interested in the conversation he still lowered his voice so that they could not hear.

"She will die here anyway."

"I would not be so sure about that, brother."

The green orc lifted a questioning brow, he had spared the life of the girl as one last favour to an old friend who was being taken back to his death. Gul'dan needed all the fuel he could get but he was starting to question the warlocks methods as were much of the older warriors of The Horde.

"You have lived well I see." Indeed the big, brown, orc had started to bulk up again now that he was eating more meat. The orc camps, although there was certainly no lack of food, had been stingy with supplies and meat was often withheld or replaced with vegetables.

"The land here is bountiful, brother. Trees grow everywhere," He gestured to the trees around him, "The land is fertile, ready to be farmed. I can feel that there is snow coming."

Kodhran grunted in reply. This land was much like their home had used to be and he missed it. He missed the worg hunts and grass beneath his feet. This land could be their new home but Gul'dan had twisted the minds of the orcs and all they thirsted for was war with this new, smaller species.

"I long to have a family and settle, old friend but Gul'dan needs warriors -"

"Gul'dan is destroying this -"

"Do NOT speak to me about Gul'dan, Garrok'Nha." The orc shifted uncomfortably where he stood. "That old orc has eyes everywhere."

They stood quietly for a few seconds, contemplating the situation they were in. Gul'dan had thought it hilarious to send a friend to catch the _"traitor orc"_ and Kodhran had not been impressed. Disobeying the warlock however meant certain death but he was starting to think that it would be a better way to go than fighting for the twisted old orc.

He had no family, his pregnant wife had been cruelly killed in a hunting accident and after a few short months he had started to suspect that there had been no such accident. He had not met another mate since and did not feel any connection with the other orcs around him, not even his chieftain.

He did not wish to send an old friend back into a camp where he would be humiliated and killed. Even more so he had let the human girl go because he _knew_ Garrok'Nha would not have abandoned his post without a valid reason. The warlock had terrible plans for her torture, which would have been performed out in the open for all to see, including Garrok'Nha and that was something Kodhran would not let his friend be put through. It would be dishonourable to her and her people to have the human humiliated and tortured even more than they were being already and it was not something the proud orc agreed with at all.

"I am sorry, Garrok'Nha, I have been given orders-"

'HEY!"

Both orcs turned to look at where the voice, with surprise Kodhran saw the small human female gracefully stomping down the embankment. Her foot slipped on a rock and she hurled her hands up to keep her balance, axe wobbling around on her shoulder. Purphaps graceful wasn't the right word.

"That her?"

Garrok'Nha's grunt of irritation was an affirmative answer to his question.

"Why?"

"I think she's my spirit link."

"A human?"

"HEY, YO-you ORC!"

"I don't pretend to know how it works, brother but I've never felt anything like this before."

Kodhran nodded curtly. He did not understand exactly how it worked but Spirit links between two Orcs were already extremely rare. A Spirit link between an Orc and a Human? Could that be possible?

Kodhran had made up his mind quickly, while the two orcs who had been eating quickly stumbled up onto their feet to confront this small threat he swiped his mace to the side and smashed it into the side of the first orcs head. He saw how the human stopped in her tracks, her face wrought with her confusion.

The mace shattered the orc's skull, with a sickening crunch his cheekbone gave way to the massive head of steel, shards of bone and splats of blood flew from the already dead orcs head. The other orc had flung himself up and was stumbling, quickly towards the human. Garrok'Nha was trying desperately to distract the shambling, slightly drunk orc and was running after him but to no avail, the orc had his eyes on this easy kill wielding a big axe. She dropped it abruptly at her feet and ducked out of his path, his momentum carried him forward. He tried to stumble around but the time he had reorientated himself the boot on her foot had found its way sharply and agonisingly into his testicles.

The orc keeled over with his hands grasping between his legs and roaring out in his pain. Lilly picked up Garrok'Nha's axe and dragged it to him quickly, keeping a wary eye on the green orc that was standing with his bloody mace over his shoulder. Garrok'Nha was greatly relieved that she was safe for now, she quickly used his axe to hack at the ropes tying his wrists. When she was done she stepped away from both of them although Garrok'Nha seemed comfortable having her around the orc, she was not comfortable being within striking range of his massive hands.

"Go back to camp."

Lilly looked up sharply at Garrok'Nha and then back to the orc standing next to him.

"No."

Although the the fear was visible on her face, although her body was huddled up trying to make herself look smaller, less of a threat, she stood defiantly in front of this orc.

Garrok'Nha sighed wearily and rubbed at his wrists, this day had stressful from the minute he had seen the orcs walking up from the forest.

"Lilly - "

She looked at him pointedly and stepped forward so that she was standing next to him.

"I'm not going anywhere." She folded her arms and stood tall, despite her fear her pride shone through her face. Although she didn't trust this orc, she trusted Garrok'Nha and even though she was standing tall, he stood taller, towering over her and standing defensively between her and Kodhran.

"She speaks our language?"

"Yes." It was Lilly who answered the orc, she was sure that if she didn't have a big, brown orc standing between her and the newcomer orc she would not have the confidence to even stand up to this green monster.

Garrok'Nha was walking towards the orc who was staggering around was his now bruised testicles, when he had left Lilly's side she knew he trusted the green orc and that he had faith he would not attack her but even so, she backed away quickly.

He raised his axe to the orc and brought it down on his neck, the blade sliced cleanly through the neck vertebrae and with a rush of blood his rolled cleanly and neatly off his shoulders. Lilly flinched at the effortless and lack of emotion it had taken him to kill the orc and stepped back uncertainly.

Kodhran grunted in agreement at Garrok'Nha's actions and then turned to the human that was shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Come, we have much to discuss."

The human looked at him uncertainly but when Garrok'Nha gestured to the orc to make his way to the camp she followed behind them quietly, her brain was switched off, she wasn't listening to them as they spoke. Garrok'Nha checked regularly behind them to see if she was safe, she walked with her head down and heavy steps.

When they got into the camp she quickly took the blood stained cloth and walked back out to the forest, her thighs were sticky with blood and sweat and she had no interest in what the two orcs were grunting to each other about even though the urgency in their voices was apparent.

This whole situation had confused her, who was this new orc? And why was Garrok'Nha risking giving away their position so willingly? He could easy just go back to the orc settlement and tell everyone where they were.

 _If he managed to find us then they already know where we are._

That was true as well. It not taken long for the orcs to find them and it occurred to her just how out in the open the cave was. It was well hidden from behind but when coming up the hill from the of human settlement it was blatantly obvious that someone was living there. Wood was stacked high, they often lit campfires outside, the little clearing was neat and tidy.

She grumbled irritatedly to herself as she undressed again and quickly washed herself off. The cloth she had washed earlier was still damp but it would just have to do for now, she didn't have any other choice.

She took her time, she was in no rush to get back to the camp which held an unfamiliar orc. Even if Garrok'Nha trusted him she didn't. The orcs' ferocity had frightened her, she had desensitised her mind to Garrok'Nha. He was an _orc_ , this is what orcs _do._

 _But still -_

He had never displayed his strength to or against her and so she had actually forgotten how strong he was, how easy it would be for him to just -

 _To just end me._

When she was done she strolled as slowly as she could, got distracted by anything she could think off and by the time she got back her arms were filled with potatoes, flowers, raspberries, a sharp but small piece of blue glass, some leaves she could use to wash herself or her hair and a small raven, which had hopped along behind her, squawking softly as she walked along. She had tried to shoo the bird off but to no avail.

Both orcs looked at her as she entered the camp, their glances made her feel uncomfortable so she slipped quietly into the cave as they continued to talk. The bird hopped around outside and waited for her to exit the cave before he started following her again. Garrok'Nha gestured for her to join them and she was relieved to see that the orc he was in conversation with looked just as uncomfortable being close to her as she was to him.

She sat closely next to Garrok'Nha, she was aware that he was the only protection that she had from this unfamiliar orc. Both orcs could see her uncertainty and Garrok'Nha closed the gap between them while shooting a warning glance at Kodhran.

"You have my word, brother."

Garrok'Nha introduced the two and they nodded curtly at each other. Lilly ,who was not happy that she had been roped into this discussion, sat quietly and listened. Nothing much made sense to her even though she understood the words. It took her a good few minutes to realise that they were talking about their old home. She unfolded her arms and crossed her legs, shooing away the raven once again.

"Your old home?"

It was Kodhran who answered her, "Yes."

"What do you mean by there isn't anything left?"

"Gul'dan has destroyed everything with his Fel magic."

She looked at Garrok'Nha, horrified, she seen how the magic had destroyed the land that the orcs had settled on but a _whole planet?_

"He's going to do it here." Her whisper was more to herself than anyone else but it was answered.

"Yes, it has already begun. He needs to be stopped."

"There are too many of you-"

"Not all of us are as blinded as we seem, human." His tone was sharp but the look on his face gentle. He had seen what the humans had been through and this little one was no different. He understood her resentment and fear of him. She had made herself as small as she could manage against Garrok'Nha's body.

"There are some of us who have started to see reason, Gul'dan is as unhonourable as he is twisted and he will not stop until he controls everything."

She suddenly became aware of the wind on her skin, the rustling of the leaves, the soft squawking of the crow, the clouds, the grass, the heat from Garrok'Nha's body. She looked up to him and she could see the grief and the suffering that laid hidden in his eyes. She placed a hand gently on his knee and then looked at the Kodhran.

"I am sorry that you lost your home but Gul'dan cannot be allowed to take ours too."

He nodded in agreement.

"The orcs need a new home."

She looked up sharply at the orc and started shaking her head slowly.

"That will not be so easily accepted. Orcs have not been the most diplomatic of races, my race will not be quick to accept."

"You were."

"That is different. I did not have a choice at the time."

"Then we will give them no choice."

"It is not that simple." She voice was starting to become flustered and agitated, "You can't just take what you want."

Garrok'Nha had remained silent while they talked, he knew something had to be done. The threat of Gul'dan was huge, it would take more than a mere two or three people to stop him.

"Garrok'Nha, I expect an honourable death."

 _What?_

Garrok'Nha nodded slowly, 'Ofcourse brother."

"But first a hunt. We can make use of the worgs."

 _Worgs?_

"You brought worgs?"

"Yes."

As if on cue, the massive wolf like creatures slunk out from the shadows, they were weary of the unfamiliar smells but they had been called and so they would answer.

The blood drained from Lilly's face. She had heard, what she assumed to be, dogs regularly in the orc settlement but she had not seen anything like this. They easily dwarfed her, their fangs huge and jutting out from their lower jaw were intimidating.

They were, in short, _terrifying._

She froze where she was sitting as the worgs drew closer, they seemed highly interested in her. One of them crouched down low so that its head was level with hers and it gazed right into her soul. Both worgs sat next to her, despite her terror and started to pant lazily.

Garrok'Nha and Kodhran exchanged quick glances and Kodhran raised a brow.

"Join us."

The look on her face when she turned to Garrok'Nha was one of restrained horror, she had all but climbed into his lap to get away from the massive animals despite their obvious submission and lack of aggression.

"No, thank you." Her reply was soft and shaky. It had been a hard day for her and now with the worgs resting at her feet her body was frozen with fear. Her hand which had been resting on his knee was squeezing it tightly now.

"There is no need to fear."

 _No need to fear._

"Yo- you ride those?"

"Yes."

"I'll just stay here, thank you."

Kodhran stood quickly and picked up his mace, Garrok'Nha followed suite and worgs perked up to watch them as they picked their weapons up.

"One last hunt."

They left eagerly, the worgs followed quickly, looking to her first as if seeking her approval before they left. At first she sat on the log for a few minutes, this day had completely overwhelmed her and as her body started to unfreeze she started softly weeping. The overload of information had filled her mind, her world was shattered when she was captured by the orcs and she had just managed to piece it messily back together when it had been torn apart again.

Gul'dan remained a huge threat, one which she could not hope to destroy by herself and it dismayed her, she felt completely hopeless. Her worries filled her eyes with more tears, tears she could not control. When she looked up to the sky all was quiet, all except for the raven, cawing softly next to her.

It was a few hours before the two orcs returned and it had already started to get dark. There was a fire burning outside the cave and the human was sitting on a log of wood with her legs crossed, folds of animal skins were laid out over her lap as she sewed and she was chewing on some of the raspberries she had collected earlier. She had decided that, at least for now, she would throw caution to the wind, both the orcs and worgs had not done anything to intentionally harm her and Garrok'Nha would, hopefully, not allow them to do so now.

The raven was hopping boldly in front of the fire, it seemed the bird was here to stay. Despite her numerous attempts to get rid of it the bird had always returned and she had become glad to have some company while she worked.

Although the hunt for the orcs had not been as it would have in their home world it had still been fruitful. They wielded a massive stag and a smaller doe, both carcuses had slung over the worgs back and she looked at the meat distastefully.

"We have enough meat, Garrok'Nha." She stood quickly and folded up the skins she was using, this meaningless killing had annoyed her somewhat, the doe was most likely pregnant so that she could carry through winter in time to birth in spring. Although there were still leftovers from his last kill, the meat had been so plentiful that they had not been able to finish it before it started rotting.

The orcs hung up the dead animals from a nearby tree branch, Lilly skinned the doe while Garrok'Nha skinned the stag. She felt horribly guilty when she saw the swell off the deer's belly and mentally tried to apologise to the dead animal who had been carrying its own life.

"This deer is pregnant."

"Give it to the worgs." Garrok'Nha answered. She stopped skinning for a moment to contemplate what she was doing. Food here could not be wasted and giving the unborn deer to the worgs was the right thing to do but it felt so wrong.

Kodhran watched as the human struggled with her emotions. She was and efficient skinner from the small amount of skinning he had seen her do but she was finding this one hard. She had not been hardened like an orc would have been but she wasn't an orc, she was a human and so why would she have been?

This was the human that had quickly killed a number of their warriors, she had had no such regrets then, why did she now? Her emotions had confused him, despite attempting to remain stoic about the situation he could clearly see her feelings reflected on her facial expressions.

And the worgs? Both of them were sitting at her side while she was skinning, at first he had seen her fear but gradually she had become used to their presence. He had never seen worgs so interested in any person, they were actively watching her skin. He supposed it was something a shaman might know but he, nor Garrok'Nha were one.

She had cut the deer down to its chin was gutting it quickly. Garrok'Nha watched her quietly. Kodhran did not understand the connection that these two had but he could see it. And if it was as his friend had said then who was he to deny a Spirit link? Something great would be born of the two if the tales he had heard about Spirit link partners were true.

Lilly had gutted the animal as quickly as she could, her guilt grew when she pulled a little, underdeveloped, dead foal from its mother's womb. She knew that it was pregnant but now that the little foal was in her hands -

Her thoughts were interrupted when Garrok'Nha took the bloody, little foal from her hands and tossed it into the forest so that it would be out of her sight. The worgs bounded after it, ripping the foal to pieces in a matter of seconds.

"Don't do that to yourself. There are plenty of others." He was trying to be gentle with her, to ease her down from her guilt but he did not think that it would work. She opened her mouth to reply but closed it when she found nothing to say to him.

She made quick work of the rest of the doe, the stag had already been put over the fire to roast and Lilly collected the guts, into what she liked to call the gut bag, in preparation to move them away from the camp. The raven hopped into the bag and was already having a feast when she started moving away from the fire.

The worgs followed her to the clearing, she assumed that they were following her for the food and was surprised when they did not start eating the insides of the dead animal as soon as she dumped them. Although still uncomfortable with them being around her she had grown used to them quickly and suppressed a small smile when they started to playfully nip at each other.

She walked to the river, with them in tow, and washed out the bag. She also wiped the blood off her hands. She did not know why the foal and its mother had been such a harrowing experience for her and in all her time hunting she had refused to kill female animals when she knew they would be carrying.

When she turned to walk back to camp she almost bumped straight into Garrok'Nha's chest, she stared for a moment and the wide shoulders, noticing that the right half of his chest and most of his right arm was tattooed ever so lightly.

 _Why had she not noticed that before?_

He put a heavy hand on her shoulder, a gesture that communicated his worry to her and she looked up into his face.

"I'm fine, it just bothered me."

 _He is really close -_

He was close enough that she could feel his chest moving as he breathed, his heat on her, and his face was a mere few centimetres away from hers. He leaned close to her and let his forehead rest against hers, neither of them broke eye contact with each other. His breath was hot against her face and neck and although the distance between them was short, she closed what little of it there was so that her body was pressed against him.

They stood like that for a few precious seconds. A few seconds when they allowed themselves to forget the threat of Gul'dan or the oncoming winter. Her cheeks started to flush red on her pale skin and he smirked softly at her.

He took the gut bag from her and stepped away, much to her disappointment. She could feel how warm he was and her cheeks burned on her skin.

 _Is this really happening?_

She admitted to herself, hesitantly, that it was. He was becoming arousing to her, his close proximity and warmth against her chest and face had made her blush so hard that her skin burned against the coolness of the air. His small gesture of affection had not only pleased her but caused her body to tense up in the most unexpected way.

The look of satisfaction on his face showed her that he knew it. He _knew_ what he done to her and how he made her feel and he'd enjoyed doing it. He was watching her quietly as she went through how he had just made her feel, he liked how her cheeks had reddened and how quickly she had responded to him.

"Come."

She whisked herself out of her thoughts and absently walked next to him back to the camp, the worgs followed close behind. She kept mostly to herself while the meat roasted, sitting next to Garrok'Nha and staring into the fire she wanted nothing to do with their discussion.

Just from listening to their discussion she learnt that some of the elder orcs had turned against Gul'dan, although blatantly not following him would result in death they kept to themselves until they would have enough power to kill him. Amongst them was an orc called Durotan.

Both of the orcs respected the chieftain, he was a good leader and with his guidance many of the untainted orcs had come to see reason and how dishonourable Gul'dan had become.

"What is a tainted orc?"

Her question was soft, more of a muse out loud than anything else as she stared into the fire, once she had asked the question she looked up straight at Kodhran, her green eyes burning with flame.

As soon as they made eye contact he knew why he was here, there was a greater reason for their meeting. A fate of some sorts.

"Tainted orcs are the orcs that accepted Gul'dans gift." Once again Garrok'Nha spat on the ground, showing his hate and resentment.

"Yes, but what was it? I've heard you speak of it before-"

"It is demons blood, human. It makes use strong, very strong but it also binds us to the demon whose blood we drank."

After everything she heard from Garrok'Nha this did not surprise her. She put her chin in her hand and thought for a few seconds.

"And Gul'dan serves this demon? Which makes the orcs - "

"Bound to him, yes."

He was impressed with how quickly the small tooth was catching on, although they were told that humans were of a lesser race and weaker than the orcs he had not believed everything that spewed out of the old warlocks mouth. He had seen how quickly they were to protect their own people, how some of them had managed to deceive the orcs and hide. That was not the trait of a stupid animal.

"And if you go against him you will die."

"Yes."

She puffed softly to herself and raised both brows, "I'd just have run."

"Running from a threat is dishonourable."

"That may be for you but sometimes you need to know when to lose a battle to win the war."

Garrok'Nha snorted with amusement and leaned back more comfortably.

"If we can find the orcs that can see reason -"

"They are few and far between."

"My people may be able to help." The human looked up to the sky, that was a reasonable thing to say. No one wanted the orcs on their land but if they could prove themselves honourable and trustworthy then they would have more of a chance of survival.

The orcs so far however had done the exact opposite and it worried her greatly. Although she herself was distrustful of the race Gul'dan needed to be stopped, the rest would have to come later. The more numbers they had against him the better.

By this time the stars were shining brightly in the sky, the full moon shone its silvery light softly over the camp and food was ready to eat. The orcs ate their fill, devouring all of the stag before starting on the doe. Although Lilly did not eat she took small pieces of the meat and gave them to the raven who was still hopping around her feet.

They ate and talked for what seemed like hours, but they enjoyed each other's company. Lilly quite liked the new orc, he had the same morals as Garrok'Nha and once he realised that she could fluently talk in his language he told about all the hunts he had been on, hunting the great clefthoofs and felling his enemies with his mighty mace. He told her of his wife and how he had loved her, it had broken him when he had found out about her death.

Eventually he stood from his seat and looked pointedly at Garrok'Nha.

"It is time, brother. I wish for one last honourable fight."

Lilly looked at Garrok'Nha with confusion on her face, "What do you mean?"

"I long for an honourable death, small tooth. There is nothing left for me here. Gul'dan will certainly not grant me one if I return but I don't intend to return. Garrok'Nha will give me the honour I deserve."

Garrok'Nha had picked up his axe and was resting it over his shoulder, when he saw the look that Lilly wa giving him he shrugged shoulders.

"I cannot deny an honourable orc an honourable death."

She plead to him with her eyes and when he declined her she turned to Kodhran who was busy picking up his mace.

"You don't have to die. You could stay with us."

"No, it is my time human. Garrok'Nha will give me an honourable death."

Both of them ignored her pleas as they walked back down the hill, back to where Lilly had found them earlier that day. Before the duel Lilly walked up to the massive green orc and kissed him gently on his cheek. She understood the sacrifice and when she looked into his eyes she could see that he was ready to go, ready to leave everything behind.

Garrok'Nha and Kodhran grasped each other's wrists and pressed their foreheads together in their last goodbye.

"Lok'tar ogar, brother. Go well with the spirits, human."

Garrok'Nha moved Lilly, almost forcibly for she did not want to move, to small rock that was jutting out of the ground where he sat her down. He did not want her to be anywhere near the fight when it began, he would be giving Kodhran the best farewell he could manage.

Then they dueled. The orcs who had grown up together fought until both were exhausted, they were evenly matched and both fought honourably. Lilly sat motionless on the rock, she did not pretend to understand Orcish culture and their actions had greatly shocked and saddened her.

She knew that if Kodhran stayed Gul'dan would be able to find them quicker than he already had before but if he went back he would be treated as a dishonourable orc, a betrayer. Were as Garrok'Nha had chosen to live and keep her alive, this great orc had nothing left and he would not be subservient to Gul'dan any longer.

When the time came, Kodhran stretched his arms out and accepted the axe that was being slammed into his chest, it crunched through bone, splintering the once strong orcs chest. Lilly saw the life leave his eyes and her body started to shudder uncontrollably.

She carefully walked over to Garrok'Nha, who was pulling his axe from his dead friend's chest and softly placed a hand on his shoulder. When he looked at her she felt the flood of emotion that was running through his body, his hurt, his guilt, his sorrow, his frustration and most prominently his pain. He was at a loss of what to do, his heart ached for the friend to whom he had just given an honourable death.

Lilly took on all of his emotions, everything he was feeling at that moment rushed through her body as she knelt down next the dead orc and let the tears fall from her face. Garrok'Nha's mind could not bring himself to cry, there was too much going through his head so Lilly cried for him, she let his emotion run through her body and he understood. He understood that she was being used as a channel for his emotion and while she knelt down and cried his heart out he sat next to her, eternally grateful for her compassion.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN ~ Warmth

The day after Kodhrans death both Lilly and Garrok'Nha were silent. The orc, in his devastation, sat in the camp and stared into nothing, his shoulders were slouched down and his head lowered. Next to him rested his axe and Kodhrans mace. Lilly, although quiet, tried to busy herself as much as possible. She made sure the orc ate and drank water before she went about her daily chores. She cleaned out the clearing, cut the rest of the meat into strips and started to prepare the deer hides they had caught from yesterday.

After every half an hour or so she would sit next to Garrok'Nha and try to comfort him, her efforts were often fruitless and eventually she stayed out of his way, avoiding where he was sitting and trying to be as quiet as possible.

The raven hopped around after her, he too was quiet but would not leave her side as she worked. She tried to fill her mind with odd jobs, small things she could do to distract herself. She went to the river to bath again, to clean herself off. She rinsed the bandages again and tried to clean them as much as she could but when she was finished they were still tinged red.

She decided she would use the sheer purple cloth she had found in the human settlement, they weren't using it for anything. She would be sad to use it for something so basic but she couldn't keep these in use while they were still wet. When she got back to the camp Garrok'Nha was gone again. This time she did not worry, he had taken his axe with him but not the mace and there was nothing out of the ordinary that would give her cause for alarm.

She ripped some of the purple cloth up, hesitantly, and used it between her legs, tying it as securely as she could so that it would not fall. When she was done she drank a few sips of water, it was hot today, _very_ hot, she thought about the temperature with a frown on her face. It was uncharacteristic of the weather to be this warm a few weeks from winter, there was not a cloud in the beautiful blue sky and the sun beat its heat down into the grassy lands.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and sat down to chew a bit of meat, throwing some to the raven too for his company. The worgs had vanished as soon as Kodhran had been killed, no doubt to return back to the orcish camp. She started trying to remember if there were any villagers nearby, if she had something to trade with them she might be able to acquire some items that would be sorely needed for the winter.

Clothes was one of the things they desperately needed, although she was trying her best to make them from the animal skins it was a tiring and tedious job. Garrok'Nha had tried to help her but she had eventually given him something else to do, his sewing was ...terrible. She couldn't really expect anything different from the orc but she had still tried. They would need a large supply or dried meat for the winter, she was drying what was left of the meat in the sun's heat but without salt it was proving difficult, that and the raven would try and sneak a few pieces when her back was turned.

She did as much as she could that day, collected water, dried out meat, tried to wash a few of the orcs clothing items. Dragging the sopping wet clothes back to camp had proven difficult and she had had to stop and rest on her way back to camp. When she got back she laid out this clothes to dry and started back on sewing some of the animal skins.

It was late when he got back, she remained quiet and kept herself to herself. Garrok'Nha had become annoyed at her constant hovering over him, he could not help but resent her for the part she had played in his friend's death. If she had just stayed in the camp they would have taken him and Kodhran would not have had to die.

When his fury had reached a boiling point he had left the camp and gone back to where Kodhran had lay and sat with the body, his mind working himself up into a frenzy of hate and resentment. At the end of the day Garrok'Nha buried the his friends body, fire would be too risky in the heat, and had dug the grave with his own hands. It had taken him hours but he was fine with that, it had worked some of the fury out of his system. He said goodbye to an old friend one last time and look one of his tusks for his memory before burying him and covering the grave with large boulders and rocks, a momento.

He had stayed for a while longer, not ready to leave yet and thought about everything they had done together. They had been life long battle partners and now that that was gone -

His fury at the human panged deeply in his chest, all he knew was that if she hadn't interrupted him things would have gone very differently and none of this would have happened. So far she had stuck her nose into everything that he had done and, now that he sat down and thought about it, it had made him unreasonably angry.

He tried to calm himself down but it was useless, his anger radiated through his body. He needed someone to blame for all this and she was the one in his firing range.

He had eventually gone back to camp, the raven announced his arrival to her before he entered the camp but she had done her best to stay out of his way.

She kept herself busy and quiet but after a few hours of work she sat down to rest, mistakenly sitting next to him. He turned to her quickly and when she saw the look on his face she backed away.

"This is your fault."

For a moment they stared at each other, he was staring her down, she was looking into his eyes, looking for something that would tell her that he truly didn't believe the words that had just come out of his mouth and when she didn't find what she was seeking her hurt showed plainly on her face.

"That's not fair." Her voice was soft but strong, for the first time that they had been together he was trying to intimidate her. She would not show her fear of him but she could not control the hurt that twisted its way into her eyes and face.

"You should NOT have come looking for me."

She had stood up now and was standing defiantly in front of him, her fists balled at her side and her shoulders were squared and stiff.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't? Truly?" Now he was standing too, standing and towering over her, her defiance was infuriating, before he knew what he was doing he had pushed his face right up against her and was roaring into her face, his tusks almost touching her cheeks. Spittle flew from his mouth as he roared and his bestial rage was making his heart pound in his chest.

And she just stood here, while he roared into her, she stood unflinchingly, refusing to break eye contact with him. His roars had slightly deafened her and they had run through her body right to the bone where they reverberated inside her.

When his breath had been exhausted he tried to stare her down but this time she would not let him see what she felt. He was the first to break their eye contact by flicking his eyes away and grunting, she took the opportunity to step back. She was stoically calm as she turned to collect some skins from the cave, a few raspberries and a water skin before she walked silently out of camp. At first Garrok'Nha had opened his mouth to stop her but he knew even if he did she would not have listened.

She left quickly, not really sure where she was going and not really caring. She was glad for the raven that was following her quietly, she had grown fond of his company. Although it wasn't dark, the sun was starting to set softly, sleeping out in the woods probably wasn't the best idea but it would have to do for now. Despite the sun setting it was still pleasantly warm and she hoping that it would not get too cold once night came.

She was greatly upset by Garrok'Nha's accusal. She had not wanted Kodhran to die by any means but she in no way thought it was her fault at all.

 _But maybe it was?_

Not even her own thoughts would let her mind rest and for the first time in years she felt truly alone. Even in the orc prisons there had been at least someone to talk to and when she had escaped she eventually had Garrok'Nha. But now as she was stomping through the dimly lit forest she felt that she had no one. His actions had surprised her and had also greatly hurt her, she had not expected the orc ever use his size and intimidation against her, he never had before, but now that he had she afraid she would have to walk on eggshells.

She picked a spot underneath a big, protective tree and laid her blankets out before sitting on them and making herself comfortable. She sat and chewed some raspberries while she was lost in her thoughts, the raven had landed on her blankets and was cawing softly.

His actions today had confused her, yesterday he had shown his affections and he had enjoyed seeing her aroused and flustered but now he was blaming her for Kodhrans death?

 _If I'd just stayed in the camp Kodhran would not have died._

Yes, that was true but then Garrok'Nha would have been taken back to the orc camp and killed. She admitted to herself that she would rather have Garrok'Nha around than Kodhran but what did he think she was going to do when she found his axe laid out in the camp with him just gone.

Maybe it was her fault. She didn't like to think that it was but maybe it _was_ _._ She should have just stayed away. Her confusion had made her tired so she laid herself down on the skins and curled up into a ball. Even though it was not dark she hoped that sleep would hold her in its arms soon, she needed to rest to clear her thoughts and this how she coped.

She slipped away before it dark and slept soundly, the sound of trickling water and the soft wind had eased her mind, her small companion was happy to dig himself under some animal skins and fall asleep with her.

It was dark when she woke from her slumber and was still groggy and half asleep she lazily turned around so that she could get more comfortable, realising quickly that she had been covered with the skins she lay on she stirred herself from her sleepiness and sat up quickly.

"Go back to sleep."

In the darkness she could just barely see his outline but she could hear him breathing heavily. She bundled herself in more blankets but lay there quietly, not allowing her sleep to overtake her. The tension in the air quickly became heavy and uncomfortable, both of them felt it and both of them were contributing to it.

He muttered for a bit, unable to spill his words, he almost expected her to interject but she didn't, she just waited for him to finish. She needed to hear what he was going to say.

"I was being unfair. I am - I am truly sorry."

She did not answer him, she was not sure if she was ready to accept an apology from him but she still felt that he had treated her unfairly. She was hoping that he would lose interest and go back to the camp but he didn't. He stayed by her side throughout the night, eventually she had slipped quietly back to sleep. Despite his earlier anger at her she was comforted by his presence, it made her feel safe and she slept all the more better with him there.

When she woke again the birds were twittering away in the trees, going about their business. Garrok'Nha was still there, he had not slept through the night and sat up straight against the tree. The raven cawed to her in greeting before ruffling its feathers and taking off, no doubt to find something to eat before the day started.

She stretched up and greeted the orc with a small nod, not quite sure of how to communicate to him that she wasn't ready for their interaction yet. She had stood up and was getting ready to bundle up the blankets when she noticed that she had bled on them slightly. She tilted her head back and let out an exasperated sigh, her menstruation had been nothing than an absolute hassle from the minute she had got and now she would have _more_ clothes to wash blood off.

She glanced at the orc who was looking at her with concern, "You're bleeding?"

She looked down at her dress, it too, had small smears of blood that had soaked through the skirt. She grunted in irritation and twisted around so that she could check the back.

"Are you hurt?" She didn't look hurt, just annoyed but he was still concerned.

"No, I'm just - "

 _Menstruating?_ That was not a word she knew in Orcish.

"There is blood coming out of my vagina, I don't know the word."

Her bluntness amused him and he snorted in a short laugh.

"Menstruating?"

"Yes, if that's the word for it."

He nodded, it made sense to him. She'd be cleaning regularly and he had seen the blood stained cloth she used that was left to dry out in the sun once it had been washed.

She picked up the skins and walked to the river so she could clean them with Garrok'Nha following close behind her. He felt that he needed to be close to her even through the bubble of irritation that she had surrounded herself with.

She was careful only to wash the spot that had been dotted with blood, she would have liked the orc to leave while she was busy so that she could clean her dress, which she would have to take off, but he didn't.

"You need to leave."

At first he looked at her uncertainly, when she asked him to leave, it was only when she gestured that she was going to undress herself that he understood.

"It's fine, I'll wait."

She arched a brow at him, the irritation stirring in her was uncertain if this was his way for trying to break the ice, by the look on his face she guessed it was but she did not appreciate it.

She turned her back and waded into the cold water with her dress on and started trying to rub the blood off it, Garrok'Nha leaned against a nearby tree and watched her curiously, he was hoping that she would have been amused by his retort, the annoyance that had shown on her face would not deteriorate his determination.

Menstruation amongst the orcs was not seen as a weakness, the females would just carry on about their business without the males even knowing it was happening but the small tooth had seemed to bleed more than orcs and the red was stained brightly against the white of her dress.

Although he had most certainly not lost interest in what she was doing he decided that would appreciate it more if he left. He was horribly ashamed of how he had lost his temper at her yesterday but he did not know how to make it up to the human. His thoughts were becoming more and more confusing to him, he had already admitted to himself that she was arousing to him, she went against everything he had grown up with. She was soft against his hardness, merciful against his ruthlessness and compassionate were he had been unforgiving.

But there was something else that had been bugging him, for the past few days he felt a desperate need to be around her, mirroring her movements. He had grown frustrated at how much he _liked_ being around her and at how worried he would become when she wasn't in his direct vicinity.

He had mistaken her softness for weakness and it was not a trait he would quickly underestimate again.

When she came back into the camp she had wrapped herself in the animals skins that were still clean and the boots she had found, her hair was wet and the raven was sitting on her shoulder and cawing sofly. She looked at the orc for a few seconds, not sure how he was going to react to her before walking into the cave to dress herself. When she came out again she had dressed in a plain black working dress and looked for a place to put her used pieces of cloth.

Her face burned with embarrassment as she put the blood stained cloth and dress out to dry, she did not know what protocol orcs had with such things but she needed desperately for these to dry so that she could use them again.

Garrok'Nha gestured for her to sit, which she did after fetching her brush from the cave. She sat opposite him and crossed her legs before she started to finger comb her hair. There was a stillness between them, Lilly absently brushing her fair with the brush and Garrok'Nha trying to figure out where to start.

"I did expect you to come looking, I was just hoping that you wouldn't."

She looked sharply up at him from brushing her hair, her green eyes stood out against her dark hair and black dress, her face pale against the dark colours.

"I knew you would come. I put you in danger." Despite the regret she heard in his voice she could also feel it running through his veins, even though she had been angry at him they were still connected.

"I made a mistake, I didn't know how else to keep you safe." She nodded to acknowledge that she was hearing what he was saying. She opened her mouth to reply to him but he held a hand out to stop her.

"I over reacted yesterday and I'm ashamed of myself for acting out against you."

There was silence once again between them and while Lilly braided her hair she could feel her icy exterior melting. She could see that he was genuinely sorry and did not really know what to do about it. She wanted to comfort him and tell him that everyone made mistakes but the other half of her did not accept the way he had quickly turned to blame her.

"Walk with me."

She got up slowly and started to walk up into the forest and looked behind her to see if he was following. With his axe slung over his shoulder he was walking behind her, he could feel that her iciness had melted and that she had forgiven him even if she had not shown it yet.

They walked for a good while in silence, the sound of trickling water and the wind slowly rustled the leaves.

"I love it here. I don't want to leave."

"We cannot stay here forever."

"I know." It disappointed her that they would probably leave this place, she had grown accustomed to it being out in the woods relaxed her, even the cave had become more homely and welcoming.

"I have something for you."

Lilly stopped walking and turned to Garrok'Nha in her response. He walked right up to her, close enough that she could feel his warmth. She accepted him welcomingly in her space. He had taken out a small thong of leather and on the end was a tooth, he gently pulled it over her head.

"I was going to keep it but I think that he would have wanted you to have it. It will protect you."

She knew whose tusk this was, she took it in her hand and squeezed. With this gesture he had completely melted through her anger, he was giving her one of the only things that kept Kodhrans memory alive. She felt her breath hitching in her throat and laid the tusk, along with all its piercings, onto her chest.

He could see that she was at a loss for words and the tears that she was trying to hide from him.

"I didn't know. You don't have to give this to me."

"I want to give it to you." He had closed the space between them and held her forehead against him, there was little he could do to comfort her but she was grateful to his closeness to her and for his attempts at trying.

His presence against her stilled her weeping eyes, he held her for longer than the first time but also closer, there was no arousal stirring within them and he put one hand on her shoulder, the other on the back of her neck. Despite his size he was being as gentle as he could with her, his hands dwarfed her neck and it ran fleetingly through his mind just how quickly he would be able to snap it.

They stood still for what seemed like a long time, she was taking in the way he felt against her, how warm he was, how gentle he was trying to be and what he smelt like. It was not an unpleasant smell at all and with her mind distracted by the thoughts going through her head she started to let her upset slowly ebb away.

She eventually pulled hesitantly away from him and sighed deeply. Her feelings for this non human had arrived with very bad timing and also confused her tremendously. With the threat of Gul'dan and his Horde looming now was not the time to get sentimental grow emotional attachments, there was much to do before winter if they wished to survive and much more to do after that if she still wished to have a home on this world.

The orcs had proven merciless in their relentless hunting of the humans, their ferocity and ruthlessness was terrifying and she knew that they would not be stopped unless they could see reason. She had grown to fear them, their strength and their intelligence, they did not care for the humans and had made that abundantly clear. But then this one had stepped out the blue and saved her. Not only saved her but allowed both of them to flourish, he had been her protector and he was an _orc._ He was part of the race that had run rampant through this land taking everything they could.

And her feelings for him were _strong_ despite her previous anger they had etched themselves into her brain, into her heart. They were always floating around in her body somewhere and recently she had started… fantasizing about the orc. At first the thoughts came as flashing images in her mind and she had wrapped them up quickly enough but there were times, when she bored or had nothing to do that her mind had wondered, wondered what it would be like to have his hands on her body.

"Lets carry on walking." He agreed and followed behind her closely, he liked being close to her and knowing that he had somewhat comforted her during her distress relieved him greatly.

"Tell me how you grew up."

She looked back over her shoulder at him and saw the curiosity that lingered softly in his eyes, she was not entirely sure why he was interested in such a trivial matter but she agreed to humour him.

"I don't remember my mother much but I always remember smelling lavender -"

"Lavender?"

"Its purple flower, that's all I really remember about her. My mammao though, she was the one that brought me up she always used to say to me, "Remember Lilly, always be as gentle as a flower but as hard as the rock of the mountains." I loved that woman, she meant everything to me."

She stopped for a short while to catch her breath, the mountainside had been steadily increasing she had found it exhausting on her body.

"She used to be a slave trader. Not something to be particularly proud of but that was how she made her money and she was a good master I guess." It sounded - odd coming from her mouth, her mammao had treated the slaves with respect despite her position.

The orc snorted, "A good slave trader, _humph_ , there is no such thing."

"I know it sounds odd, they were always finely clothed and well fed, they had beds and a place to sleep. Often people with no work would go to her because they knew she would look after them. At least until they were sold." She giggled softly to herself and turned to the orc, "I met all sorts of people, gold traders, gem traders, silk and cloth traders, hunters, warriors, Kings and Queens. I was a right little spoilt brat."

He barked in laughter as she smiled at him, "I was well educated, though I hated sitting inside, my mammao would make me read at least two hours a day. I had a good up bringing." For a few moments they walked in silence again until she continued, "When I was thirteen it was decided that I should help with the income, or at least food anyway, so mammao called her "lieutenant" that's what the other slaves would call him because he was always there to back her up, he was her slave but by choice. He was this big, dark, beautiful man. His skin was like coal, I'm not sure where he came from but I've certainly never been there. He used to wear these golden earrings and read pants." She stopped to rest for a bit and mused softly to herself.

"His name was Jakon and he taught me to hunt and when to hunt and what to hunt."

"So he was your first teacher."

"He was a lot of my firsts." She giggled shyly at him and he caught her face flushing before she turned away and continued walking. She often missed him, his patience and integrity had greatly calmed her.

"He was your lover?"

"Yes, for a few years."

"Your only lover?"

She shot a curious glance over her shoulder at the orc, a glance which showed her amusement at his curiousity.

"Jealous?" Her comment had been said jokingly, she did not mean anything by it and it showed on her face, the mischief glinted in her eyes.

"Just curious." She smirked at him for a few seconds before answering him, "No, I've maybe had three all together. Jakon, Henry and - ah." She hesitated and blushed, "I don't know if the other one counts it was just one time with a Night Elf."

 _Why are going around telling him everything?_

He was laughing softly behind her while she thought, she just felt so comfortable with him, so ready to spill her secrets to this orc who had protected her and fed her.

"Never been with an orc before though-"

"HAH, I would hope not."

"Why so?"

"Most of my people hate the humans, they would not lay with one."

"Most?"

"Some are more open minded." She stopped walking and turned to him, smiling, her eyes were openly laughing and mischievous.

"Oh, are you?"

He looked at her and started to smirk at her blatant question, he walked up to her so that he was close and lowered his head before growling, "Yes."

For a few seconds the air around them grew dense, her face flushed with heat and she started to blush, his face was close to her and she could feel his breath hot on her cheeks, his eyes were fiery and bright and suddenly she realised that he knew. He _knew_ that she had been fantasizing about him, which flooded her face even further and sent a pang of arousal shooting through her body.

He wanted to reach out and her touch her but he restrained himself, he wanted her to give him the go ahead, he wanted her to be the one to instigate. He did not want to force himself on the human and he was afraid that if he instigated she would put all her walls up again.

For Lilly the closeness of his body agonised her, she did not know what to do with the feelings that were rising up into her stomach. He had all but told her that he wanted to feel her, to let his hands wander her body but she needed to make the first move.

She smirked openly at him, blushing, before turning away. She knew that he had just put the choice up to her, that he was going to leave this up to her to decide and she was unsure whether she was grateful or not. His blatant show of sexual interest had sent a pang of pressure through her lower abdomen, something she had not felt in a long time.

She breathed the crisp air and it cool her heated body, the sound of water running downhill was starting to get louder, she continued to walk up the mountain, letting the cool air revitalise her body.

"My mammao, she always tried her best with me." Her voice was softer now but not necessarily upset. "When she found out she went and bought me a white silk dress." She laughed softly.

"Did she give you your name?"

"Yes, "Lilly is a winter's flower." she used to say, I never understood what she meant and she never explained it to me."

"You look like one."

She snorted in her laughter, "Are you telling me I look like a flower?"

"Yes."

"Is that a compliment?"

"I suppose it is, yes."

Here was an orc, a race from a different world altogether and here she was, busy laying her life out for him to look at. She did not however feel in anyway uncomfortable in doing so.

"When I was twenty one my mammao got sick, very sick." She frowned as she spoke now, the memory was not a good one but it was one that she had learnt to deal with. "We could not bring her out of her fever and she passed relatively fast. She wanted me to take over the business but I couldn't, I didn't have the mind like she did. She left me everything, everyone."

"What did you do?"

"Well, I let them go. I didn't want to force them to stay. She left them some gold when she died so that they could start their own lives. I sold the house and started selling skins and meat, hunting was something I was good at so I used it to make money."

There was silence again, they'd been walking at least two hours now and the ground seemed to have levelled out a little bit and so travelling had become easier, the forest was becoming thinner as well and soon the trees had cleared out so that there was a small clearing. It was filled with bright flowers and smooth rocks. She entered the clearing hesitantly and when saw it was empty stepped confidently inside.

There was a relatively large pool of crystal clear water which was held in a dark coloured outcropping of rocks and the water was -

 _Steaming?_

She shook her head abruptly before approaching it, if this is what she thought it was -

"This is hot water."

She walked quickly to the pool and dipped her hand into the water, it was _warm_ in fact it wasn't just warm it was hot.

"We just found a natural hot spring." Her voice was soft with amazement, this meant she would be able to have a proper bath, not a small dip into cold water. Quickly, and before she realised what she doing, she kicked her shoes off started to pull her dress off when she shot an awkward glance at Garrok'Nha who was standing between the trees with a slightly confused, albeit bemused, look on his face.

She considered him for a moment, she just told him about most of the aspects of her life, she felt that she had laid herself bare for him a long time before he had ever seen her naked.

 _And I wouldn't be naked anyway,_ she thought quickly, she had bandaged her breasts and was still trying to stem her menstrual flow with pieces of old cloth. She slowly pulled her dress off despite his gaze and dipped herself into the hot water.

"Oh yessss."

 _Oh no._

He could not find the words to speak as she undressed and slipped into the water, the relief her face was evident. He had winced when he saw the scars on her back, they had been etched deep but that was not his main concern. He did not know what to do with himself, she was already getting comfortable in the water but he was -

He was just standing there dumbfounded, unsure of what to do now that she was willingly almost naked in front of him. She looked over her shoulder to him and gestured for him to come over.

"Come, join me. The water is really good." She had undone her hair and was trying to tie it up in a messy bun.

"I don't like water."

She smirked softly at him, "Come and sit with me then." The bandages were soaked through and starting to slip, she was holding them up with her arms. The water was clear, clear enough that he could see the purple cloth starting to float around her hips.

"It's been so long since I had a proper bath, hot water is so nice." She slid further down into the water so that just her head was showing. He walked hesitantly over to her and sat close the edge. She flipped around so that her chin was resting on her hands which were on the ledge next to him.

"So you don't like water?"

"No."

"At least put your feet in, its really good."

He started to take his shoes off while she watched him quietly and curiously, putting his feet and legs into the water he could already feel his body relaxing, it _was_ nice to feel the warmth again. She put a hand on his knee and pulled herself out of the water so that she was sitting next to him.

"We were so lucky to find this." She giggled softly and readjusted the bandages around her chest, the cloth around her hips was sheer and barely covered her.

It did not matter to him but if it made her happy then he was glad. She squeezed his knee reassuringly before slipping back in, she was comfortable in the water and floated around slowly.

She felt that she _needed_ this, it had been weeks, _weeks,_ since she had had a good bath, one where she felt properly clean afterwards. Her hair was sticking softly to her neck as she looked up at him with those eyes.

"Tell me why you don't like water."

"Orcs are not … natural swimmers."

"You could easily just stand." To prove her point she stood in the water which sloshed around gently just above her chest.

"I'm fine with just my feet in."

"More space for me then." She lay back down and let out a comfortable sigh, "I love how warm it is." She closed her eyes and let her body float at the top of the water. There was silence between them for a long time, it was soft and gentle and neither of them wanted to break it.

"Garrok'Nha?"

"Hm?"

"Did you mean what you said about being open minded?"

He watched her for a few seconds, her face was flushed red, whether that was embarrassment or from the heat of the water he did not know. She was not looking at him but instead she was suspended in the water, almost beautifully, and gazing up into the sky.

He grunted in acknowledgement, "Yes."

Her eyes darted to his face and then over his body quickly before she looked back up into the sky, she was unsure of how to proceed from this moment or what to do with his comment. Her feelings for the orc had intensified over the last few days and she did not know how to act upon them. She felt undressing herself completely naked for him to see would be too forward but doing nothing was becoming more and more frustrating.

She sighed softly and reveled in the warmth of the water, it soaked into her skin and it was starting to put her into a good mood. She floated into up next to him and put and a hand on his thigh before pulling herself up so that she was leaning on his legs. The water from her body dripped onto his pants and all her weight was on his upper legs, she looked up into his eyes and awkwardly wiggled closer to him.

"What are you doing?"

For a moment she hesitated -

 _What am I doing?_ Well she didn't have an answer for that question and just went with what her body told her, she leaned up into his face and kissed him softly on his lips. For a brief moment she thought that he would draw back and reject her but when he started to respond to her lips she became more eager. His tusks fitted perfectly around her face and she didnt not find any interference or hindrance of them.

After a few short seconds they stopped and remained silent for a while, he,although not surprised, found her straight forwardness amusing. Orcs did not often find pleasure in kissing and despite their size difference she was the one being gentle with him and he had enjoyed it, she had left a soft tingle on his lips.

At first she started to giggle nervously and it snowballed into a hysterical fit of laughter, Garrok'Nha could not help but laugh with her.

"I hate orcs but you're just so different." Her face was flushed red as she spoke and laughed at the same time, he had placed his hands under thighs and was pulling her closer to him. With his feet still in the water he lay down on his back, she followed his movements and rested on his chest, with her ear to his skin she could hear and feel his heart beat on her face. His arms enclosed around her body gently but firmly. She was lulled by the sound of his heartbeat, it was strong and rhythmical against his chest. They stayed like that for almost an hour and a half, she drifted gently in and out of sleep as she rested on his body.

This is how he knew she felt safe, she _slept_. And now she was sleeping on his chest, which his arms wrapped around her he was keeping her warm and her deep breaths were calming to him.

When she woke she was groggy and warm, she was still resting against his chest and with his arms wrapped around her she softly repositioned herself so that she was more comfortable. Her head was pressed against his chin and her lips rested softly against his neck. She lifted a hand to his face and softly started brushing her lips against his neck, she smirked at the shudder she felt running through his body.

She was so soft against him, so gentle against his skin, he had not felt anything so soft result in such intense ripples across his body.

"You don't know what you're doing to me." His chest rumbled against her when he spoke and she giggled softly before pressing her lips harder against his neck.

"I can assure you that I do."

She knew, she _knew_ what she was doing. His arms tightened around her when she started biting on his neck. With her still on his chest he sat up and moved her away from his neck, she sat up with a smirk still on her face.

She slid off his lap and back into the warm water, although she was keen to carry on with her administrations on his neck she did not want to push herself onto the big orc. She floated around in the water for a few seconds, contemplating him with those big eyes, eyes that held their feelings for him.

"So you really aren't going to join me?"

He shook his head and she dipped her body and face under the water.

"We should probably start heading back soon."

She looked like she wanted to reject his notion but seemed to change her mind when she saw how far the sun was in the sky. She would have loved to stay longer but they did have chores to complete, they had already been there a few hours. Her sleep had made her lethargic and the warmth of the water had made her lazy.

She swam to the outer edge of the pool and pulled herself up slowly, careful not to let the bandages around her breasts or the cloth between her legs fall or become misplaced. It proved difficult, but she managed with as much grace as she could muster.

There was a comfortable silence as he waited for her to dress, she had had a good day, they both had. Although she did not know what would happen with the orc or even if they would still be in the cave together after a few months, it was nice to have a distraction. He distracted her from the looming threats that were forever present in her mind, she felt safe around him and she enjoyed his response when she touched him.

They walked back almost in silence and she was glad, she was glad that she had taken the step and showed him how she felt. Now she would just have to see where the tides would take them.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT ~ Bite

Both of them had worked together when they got back to the camp and both were in good spirits. They chopped wood, dried meat and cleaned up after themselves. Though the weather the day before had been uncharacteristically hot it had turned again and become cold, dots of rain clouds had started to gather and in sky and the raven had hopped into the cave quickly.

"There's a storm coming."

"Oh?"

She looked up into the sky and then into the cave where the raven had seeked shelter, the birds in the trees had quieted and everything had stilled, softened.

"For sure. A big one too. Listen."

He did and he heard nothing shrugging it off quickly but for her the alarm bells had started ringing. There was no wind, _nothing_. No birds, no butterflies, all was still.

"We need to hurry." Her pace quickened, their morning galavant momentarily forgotten she piled the wood they had collected earlier and draped the leather over it, everything that was outside she brought inside. After thirty minutes the wind started howling, it picked up out of nowhere and she was quick to tie down the leather protecting the wood so that it wouldn't go flying. She had eventually taken shelter in the cave to wait out the oncoming storm, the clouds had grown big, dark and heavy, soon they would release their torrents of water.

The orc would not be persuaded to join her, _what was a little storm anyway?_ She had eventually given up returned to the cave to continue sewing, the raven sitting on her knee watching carefully.

When the clouds had burst open the orc had not been near the cave and had stomped back to the cave irritably, when he entered she had a small smirk on her face but did not retort on his soaked clothes.

"The weather was never this unpredictable on Draenor." He was grumpy and cold and started trying to make a fire. With his clothes and body still wet and dripping into the tinder his attempts were thwarted every time. He threw the tools to the floor in exasperation and she picked them up to continue where he had left off.

"Draenor? Is that the world you came from?"

"Yes."

She had successfully started a small flame and gently trying to encourage it to take more tinder and grow.

"Was it nice there?"

"It was my home."

Sensing he could not be persuaded to talk about his past she put a few small pieces of wood on the fire and looked into the flames wistfully before sitting further back and continuing sewing.

They sat in silence for a while, she was listening to the rain as is pounded down onto the cave of the roof, she _loved_ this weather, the fire had fought off the cold and they had had a stroke of luck with the direction of the wind. He was … well she didn't quite know what he was thinking about or what he planned to do. There was not much they could do with the weather as it was.

Sewing was proving tedious but the orc had seemed to take on the cooking duties and was trying to cut up some potatoes with a blunt knife. She watched him, highly amused, as he tried to plunge the knife into the hard flesh, even with his strength the blunt knife proved difficult to maneuver.

"You can stop smiling at me and help." It was not meant badly and was said with a smile, he had noticed how she was hiding the smirk on her face and she scooted the short distance over to him to help.

"It would help if you had a sharp knife." Blatantly she arched a brow up at him and smirked before choosing another sharper one from the small set of knives they had. She peeled them quickly and tossed the peels as well as the potatoes in the pot he had selected.

"I don't know what to do with these - vegetables. I prefer a good roast."

"And you are good at making them. I, however, was taught to make my food last."

On her hunting trips she had taken small amounts of everything, potatoes, carrots, peas, small pieces of bread and water. The meat she would cut small pieces off of fresh carcusses, she could not afford to only eat meat. She had done what she could to make it as tasty as possible, a small box of salt was always on her person, along with premixed and dried herbs.

"You enjoy my cooking?"

"I enjoy you."

She looked up at him with a naughty glint in her eye and her cheeks flushed pink, "Even if I have to put up with your terrible potato peeling skills. That is a sacrifice Im willing to make."

He snorted with laughter and continued to add potatoes to the pot. "I was taught to fight, not to cook, human."

"There is nothing wrong with being able to cook well, orc." She looked up at him again and continued to sew.

She looked content and happy, the orc was unsure what to do with his emotions. For the first time it hit him how beautiful she really was, at least to him. They were living relatively well now so he supposed it was the first time he could look at her properly, without worry or without worry on her face. And he liked what he saw, her face was smooth but also sharp and her features were unblurred by worry lines as she sat contently.

His mind flicked back to earlier in the day when she had been softly biting at his neck, her lips had been so gentle -

"I can feel your eyes on me." She did not look up from her sewing and continued carefully with a smirk on her face.

This orc, a fierce warrior, one who stood proudly, who had cleaved through his foes with no mercy. An orc whose name had sent, and still sent, orcs running back from the battle to change tactical plans and get more troops. He had melted when she bit him. Her lips had left such a tingle on his neck that his skin had broken out in bumps.

This was something unusual for him, he was used to being hard and although he had not been at all forceful with his wife he had not been gentle with her nor her with this human had changed everything, she was so gentle with him that he hardly felt her touch and even if he did not feel it, it always left his skin tingling.

"When are you going to kiss me again?"

She put down her sewing and giggled softly, "Oh? Did you enjoy it?"

"Very much so."

"I did as well." For a few seconds they were quiet until her laughter burst the silence again.

"I never thought I would have even liked an orc, never mind kiss one."

He almost asked her why she felt that way, he had pushed the reality of the orc camps from his mind and had almost forgotten the ordeal she had been through.

"There are those of us who do not agree with Gul'dans methods."

She looked up at him sharply, "None of you were there to help my people."

"It's not that simple."

"No, it never is."

There had been nothing that he or any other orc could have done, the prisons were usually guarded and anyone without the authority to be near them was heavily punished. A few of the orcs had tried to sneak them food none the less, they had often caused more damage than good because the humans would fight amongst themselves for it.

"Why haven't the orcs who don't agree with Gul'dan just leave? You did."

"He will not spare them, I was only one but if others left he would hunt us all down. We do not know this land. It would not be easy to survive."

She knew this land, although she did not know it intimately she had been here before. She would not however offer her help to the orcs after what they had done although Garrok'Nha did not agree with her choice he would have to accept it. They remained quiet for a while and she continued trying to sew even though that chore had become exceptionally boring.

"Do you think that we will get out of this alive? Considering winter is on its wa -"

"Of Course we will. I haven't let you down before."

"No, that is true."

For the first time since they had inhabited the cave it was truly cold, although being close to fire helped to fight the bite off the iciness had slowly begun to set in the cave. It had not yet hit nightfall and she knew they would be in for a cold night. She tried to huddle closer to the fire before throwing the skins she was sewing away in frustration.

"I _hate_ sewing."

"I could always hel-"

"Oh no, your stitches would just fall apart but thank you."

For a moment he looked at her blankly and then started laughing, she looked up at him with a small smile before reaching for a book and starting to read.

"Im slaving over this pot of food and you're just sitting there reading? How inconsiderate."

She snorted with laughter and looked up from the book, "What would you have me do then?"

"Come here."

She stood wearily and walked slowly, almost coyly, and knelt next to him. He gestured to his lap, indicating that he wanted her to sit and a wide smirk broke out on her face, the reflection of the fire bounced around in her eyes, which were glinting at him mischievously.

"You want me to sit on your lap while you cook, orc?"

"I am merely offering you a seat, human."

She giggled softly and lowered herself down onto his legs, just above his knees. He was not happy with the distance between them and so lifted his legs so that his knees were bent and she went sliding forward so that she was pressing right up against him.

And he was so _warm_ , despite having slept on his chest earlier she was hesitant to be so close to him again, but when she felt how warm he was she slid further into his body so that as much as her was pressed against him as possible. He growled in satisfaction that the small human wanted to be so close to him

She was once again lulled by his heartbeat, with his warmth against her she was starting to warm up but instead of becoming lethargic and lazy, she was quickly becoming aroused. Her legs were straddled over him with her knees barely being able to touch the floor and his smell was just intoxicating, it was a deep earthy smell and although not overbearing it was was strong.

She was uncertain what to do with these inconvenient feelings stirring within her body, she could act upon them or she could just leave them and let her frustrations grow.

She glanced up the orc, who had been looking down at her, and he saw the uncertainty that flickered across her eyes. He had come to understand that this was going against everything that either of them had been taught, he had also quickly come to realise that he didn't much care. The implications for her however would be much bigger than the ones for him -

"I don't know what to do with you." Her voice was soft against the crackling of the fire, her hands gentle on the side of his chest and her weight heavy on his hips.

"Whatever you want."

She sat away from him for a moment, looking at him carefully, contemplating what she should do. She looked at his broad chest, filled with scars and hard with muscle, gingerly she reached out and softly traced a finger over one of them, his skin was warm against her touch and her fingers left a trail of cold across the scar.

"How did you get this one?"

"I was sixteen, we had a battle between two villagers for rights to a running river. I was fortunate my opponent miscalculated, I would be dead if he hadn't."

Despite his "fortune" The scar ran deep, it was the first of battle scar of the countless others that he would receive and it had taken weeks to heal. She was frowning softly as she traced her fingers over the others being as gentle as she could manage.

"What about this?"

"That was just a worg."

 _Just a worg, as if they weren't terrifying enough._

He was fascinated by her interest in his scars, as she was sitting on his lap she had become completely enthralled by them.

"You've been hurt so many times."

"They are just momento's."

She was so soft against his skin, so gentle. The axes and swords had sliced through his flesh had burnt and pained him but her touch tingled softly on his skin.

"I think the only reason you haven't died yet was so that you could find me."

"Don't you think that's a selfish presumption?"

"Yes, I do but don't you feel that?"

He had been feeling it from the second he had laid eyes on her while she sprinted across the field, she had not seen him yet and he continued to watch her from behind the trees. There was something about this human, something fated. His first instinct was to push it to the side, he had orders to follow and although he did not like the orc camp he was eager to get his duty done as fast as possible.

And so he had pursued her, he could see in her eyes that she knew she could not escape, he was bigger and faster. He had run her down easily enough but each step he took closer to her he felt a pang of regret coursing through his veins and then she had turned, turned around to face an enemy that she knew could easily kill her. When he'd looked into her eyes he had been impressed by her determination but he had also felt his chest twist in an uncomfortable spasm. He would not have been able to kill her even if he had tried and it had taken days for him to admit to himself that it would not have been his axe that had failed but it would have been him.

She was starting to ease off his lap while he was lost in thought and he quickly took hold of her upper arm and pulled her back.

"You're not going anywhere."

A smirk flitted across her face quickly, "Oh really?" She was trying to pry his hand off her but his strength was much greater than hers.

"Yes, really."

At first he was weary to use his strength on her but when he had seen the glint in her eyes and the smile that spread across her face as he pulled her towards him he knew that she had accepted it and by the look on her face was enjoying it too.

She planted each foot firmly on the ground around him and pulled back from him, this did nothing to help her cause and her feet merely slipped forward against the ground.

She was _enjoying_ this. She was enjoying how strong he was, she was enjoying her body against his and she was enjoying that he was controlling her. Despite everything she had been through with the orcs she had enough trust in him to let him control her, to let him use his strength on her and still enjoy it.

Her cheeks had flushed pink as she giggled, despite all her weight being pulled against him he could still easily pull her to him with little effort. She glanced at him mischievously before quickly pulling her arm and biting down on his hand. It was not a hard bite but it surprised him none the less and he quickly let go of her, with the weight pulling her back gone she toppled backwards, laughing as she went. It happened too quickly for him to comprehend what he was doing, before she hit the floor he had placed a protective arm around her back, he was kneeling over her, nuzzling into her neck he opened his mouth and bit down hard.

For a few seconds she squirmed hard underneath him, when he realised how hard he had unintentionally bit down he was quick to release her neck from his mouth, quick to start backing away until a breathless moan filled the cave.

He looked down at this human, her cheeks were now flushed red, the heat radiating off her face, though he had not broken skin he could see his teeth imprints, his tusks had left two big indents just to the right of her throat.

Her eyes were half closed, she looked flustered and hot beneath him, although he was not putting any of his weight on her he was still nestled between her legs.

"Do that again."

He looked at her uncertainly, she was still beneath him and his arm was still securely protecting her from the floor, he could see her eyes were filled with arousal and he did not quite understand how she had found it pleasurable as he was quite sure that he had hurt her.

"Please do it again."

She had asked him so softly, the words barely escaped from her lips but they were heavy and laden with her arousal. He lowered his head slowly to her neck again, she had tilted it so that he had more access to her neck. He did not bite her straight away but slowly traced his lips along the line of her neck, his piercings scraped along her neck and he could feel her softly shuddering beneath him.

Opening his mouth he enclosed his teeth gently around her neck, he pressed his tongue against her throat and felt how quickly her heart was pounding. Her breath was hitching in her throat and he could feel how eager she was for him to bite down.

He bit into her soft flesh slowly and gently, he could her body tense up underneath him, she placed an arm around his shoulders and rested a hand on his head encouraging him into her neck.

"Bite harder."

"I don't want to hurt you-" His voice was muffled against her but she understood, she had been afraid of his tusks the second she had laid eyes on them, they were bigger than the other orcs, more decorated and sharper. But now that she learnt to trust him, now that they were digging softly into her skin for her pleasure, she was finding it highly arousing.

"If you hurt me I'll tell you, please Garrok'Nha."

Her use of his name was pleasing to him, he would trust her to tell him when to stop and so he bit down in her flesh once more, this time harder. He instantly felt her body stiffen beneath him, he felt her legs tense around him, her breath was quickly speeding up and her heart fluttered against his tongue. Instead of pushing him away, as he had expected, she pulled him close. She did not have the strength to physically pull him but he followed the gentle nudges of her hands and rested softly over her.

This was _bad. Really bad._

Neither of them wanted to stop and both had quickly become aroused, an orc and a human tangled up in each other. She might not know the implications of what they were doing but he did, he knew neither of them would be accepted anywhere if anyone found out what they were doing. He was just so fascinated by how quickly she had become aroused and how soft she was underneath him.

It had been a long and heavy night, the rain was still pounding down as it had been since the storm came in. Lilly was sitting a bit further in from the mouth of the cave, she was watching the rain as it fell and was listening to it as it speared the ground mercilessly. Bruises had formed on her neck from where the orc had bitten her and she was absentmindedly massaging them with her fingertips as she floated around in her thoughts.

She had thoroughly enjoyed his administrations on her neck the night before and she had seemly reached a new level of comfort with him, she knew he had felt guilty about the bruises but she rather enjoyed them there. She liked the feel of his body on top of her and when she had felt him bite into her neck she could not have helped but let a moan escape her lips.

She sighed softly to herself as she watched the rain, a fire was warm on her back and her belly was filled with food. Sometimes it was nice to just sit, be forced to relax. Although she reasoned that she should be sewing or doing other important, tedious tasks she was enjoying the rain.

The feelings that had blossomed for the orc were becoming too intense for her to handle. She had been so _ready_ to have him inside her last night so _ready_ to accept him in anyway that she could that it had started to bother her greatly. If he had not asked her to stop she would have gladly coupled with him.

He was sitting her behind her, no doubt watching her as she listened to the rain, she was unsure how he was feeling about what had taken place last night but they had pushed a big boundary between orcs and humans and both had enjoyed it.

"What are you thinking about?"

"About last night." She felt her cheeks unceremoniously flushed with red as she continued to softly massage her neck.

"You enjoyed it that much?"

"Yes."

"But I hurt you."

"No, you didn't." She felt a twinge of annoyance at how worried about her he was, he could see that she was fine, could he not? She had asked him, almost begged him, to continue biting her neck and it had sent her into such a frenzy that she had had to force herself not to touch herself into orgasm when he was done.

"I asked you to and I might just ask you again later."

Although he did not reply she could hear him laughing to himself softly, things between them had started moving quickly since she had kissed him and she knew she was not the only one that had been aroused by their experience last night. She had felt him harden between her and before he had stopped biting into her neck she had started to rub overself over his groin.

There was a small fire warming her back as she looked out into the rain, no other lover had made her feel so aroused or excited, his bigness had, at first, scared her but now she felt protected by it, his body was always warm and always welcoming to her, despite its scars.

He had gotten up and was sitting behind her now, his legs around her body and she leaned back into his chest.

"Why do you watch the rain?" He had never in his life seen someone so fascinated by rain, she had danced in it and now she was watching it quietly, enthralled by it.

"It's beautiful."

He could not see its beauty, to him it was just wet and cold and stinging but he held her close to him while she watched, breathing in her smell and her softness.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE ~ Changes

If Lilly thought she had known cold, she had been wrong. _This_ was cold. Ice had started to settle on the leaves of the trees surrounding the cave. The river that ran close to the camp was starting to freeze over, animals were starting to migrate and being far from a roaring fire resulted in bone chilled iciness that could take hours to ward off.

Her and the orc slept in the same blankets now but the cold seeping through the cave walls still penetrated the thick skins and body warmth from the big orc. They lay together under the skins, Lilly as close as she could get to Garrok'Nha, her body fraught with cold.

"We can't stay here."

She felt the words reverberate through his chest and huddled closer.

"There is no where else to go - "

"If we stay here you'll die."

She snorted with slight amusement and although she wouldn't admit it she thought that he might be right. She had underestimated just how cold it was going to be, their food was going to run short at this rate and if the river froze over they wouldn't have fresh water either.

"And you'll miraculously survive." She glanced up to amused eyes, even if they were laden with worry. He leaned into her neck and nuzzled it gently, the spiked nose ring scraping across her skin softly.

"I've been cultivating you this whole time, fattening you up so that I can eat you when the time is right."

"Pft, as if I would last you three days-" She gasped softly when his hand pushed her knees part and cupped her softly, rubbing against her cliterous with a large but attentive thumb.

"I don't think you understand what I meant."

She grasped his wrist and softly pulled it away.

 _The teasing-_

"Don't tease me unless you mean it. You frustrate me more than you can imagine." She whispered these words, almost ashamed of what she was saying.

 _A human coupling with an orc? Disgusting._

But was it disgusting? Could she honestly tell herself that it was disgusting? No. If anything it felt so natural, their kissing turned to touching, touching to fondling and fondling could, so _easily_ , turn into them coupling.

He was sitting up and watching her curiously, watching the thoughts that were rushing through her mind.

"You have no idea how much I want you." She looked up him, the fire reflecting in her eyes which were burning with need. "Ever since I kissed you the only thing I can think about is fucking you."

"Such vulgar language from a lady." He'd tried to caress her face but she'd stopped him. And those words she used … his lower abdomen panged and he could feel himself already hardening against his pants.

"Im being serious. I want you and all you do it tease me and then refuse me? Are you disgusted by it?"

"Disgusted? HA!" His chest rumbled with soft laughter, "You do not disgust me."

"Then why hasn't this gone further? You've stopped me more than once."

"Because I don't want to hurt you."

She rolled her eyes and slipped away from him, his answer had annoyed her. Did he really think that she hadn't thought about the size difference? If anything it excited her and she knew her limits and she most definitely wanted to at least try.

He took both her wrists in one of this huge hands and pulled her retreating body back towards him, lifted them up over her head and pinned them down so that she could not move away.

"You think I don't see the infuriating way you cross your legs in front of me and wish that I could part them with my body?" He grabbed her knee with another hand and spread her legs, smoothly moving himself between them.

"You think I don't see you brushing your hair and wish that I could entangle those strands in my hands while I bend you over the log outside."

He could feel the heat beneath him radiating from her body despite the cold, he could feel her breathing getting heavier against him, the way her eyes were sparkling with excitement and need, she was trying to pull her wrists out of his hands but her efforts were nothing against the bundles of muscles in his arms.

"You think I don't want to make you mine?" He leaned next to her face so that his lips were softly against her ear. "You think that I don't want to mark you so that other people can see that you're mine, I don't want them to touch you, talk to you, I don't even want them to look at you."

She squirmed underneath him, her body rubbing against his in all the ways that drove him crazy with lust. His aching, desperate groin pressed hard against her through his pants, he could feel her nipples were hard with arousal as her breasts pressed against his chest

"You think that I don't want to feel my cock against these lips-" He brushed her lips with the thumb of his free hand, she had opened her mouth slightly and when his thumb came into rest in the middle of her bottom lip she bit it, hard.

"Little bitch-"

All the pent up frustration that had been pounding in his body for the past weeks was coming to a point and that point was between her welcoming legs, ready to take her -

"Do it."

Her voice was barely audible to him, blood was rushing through his body and pounding in his ears, his free hand reached down to pull the skirt of her dress up. He let go of her hands to clumsy fumble with his belt, his body was shaking with the anticipation of what was to come.

"Was that an invitation?"

She sat up, surrounded by their bed skins. She looked surreal in the light of the fire, soft skin, dark hair and the most maddening to him was the lust in her eyes and while he was struggling to take off the heavy belt she pulled the dress off over her head and removed the bindings from around her body.

 _Gods help me ~_

She scooted herself closer to him, her face so tantalisingly close to his groin that he could feel her breath on this lower stomach.

"It was a demand, Garrok'Nha, please." Her hands unclipped the belt that he had been struggling with so much and he hastily pulled his pants down. Her eyes lowered to his fully erect and throbbing member, her eyebrow arched as he pushed her back down into the blankets, her body sprawled beautifully out for him to take.

It was raining. Again.

Lilly sat in the entrance of the cave with her back to the fire so that she could keep herself warm. The mud that had formed outside the cave due to heavy rain made it difficult to get in or out. There was not much they could do when the rain beat down unmercilessly and although both human and orc had released a lot of their frustrations the night before on each other it was still difficult to sit and do nothing.

Food was running low now and the worry that she was feeling was starting to etch on her face. absent mindedly she picked up a small rock and chucked it out into the rain. She hurt a little bit after last night but she had expected that.

Something was bugging her. Something big. The ground felt ...wrong somehow. Spreading her fingers over the ground and pressing her palms against cold stone she sat still and listened.

 _This isn't rain._

It wasn't rain. As soon as she realised what she was hearing through the ground she stumbled up, panic quickly setting in. She grabbed a nearby bowl of water and tried to douse the flames with it. The orc sat up quickly when he saw her panicked moves and stood when he saw her trying to put out the fire.

"Lilly?"

She hushed him quickly and listened intently.

Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, maybe just being stuck in this cave with nothing to do had forced her brain to entertain itself-

"Do you hear that?"

He listened carefully before shaking his head. No.

"Those are horses. Stay here."

She did not wait for an answer from him before she swaddled herself in skins and started to trudge into the rain and through the mud. Her main concern was Garrok'Nha. Their coupling had further bonded them and they both knew it. The vibrations she could feel through the ground as she ducked under some over hanging trees for cover were telling her that this was more than just three or four horses. And where there were horses, no doubt there would be people.

She strained her eyes to see through the downpour of rain and although she could not see anything she could hear the horses snorting and pulling through the thick mud.

She tried to stay hidden, a quick jog was all that she could manage before her body had given in to the mud. She stood under the tree which was only somewhat protecting her from the rain and contemplated her situation. The riders would more than likely be happy to help her but Garrok'Nha…

She would not leave him. She had made that decision a long time ago but telling the oncoming group of riders that she wanted to help a orc would not be taken likely and if she could get away with being undiscovered to protect him then she would.

The group was dangerously close to the cave and if they came any further she would have no choice but to intervene. She could already see the outline of the horses, hopefully she would be able to see if they were carrying any -

 _Those are Stormwind horses._

They were proud beasts. Big and strong they had the stamina to carry their riders far and fast, they were bred for war. Fearless and brave they had been at the front line of many battles and not much scared them. Their riders carried their heavy shields on the left side of the horses and spears on the right.

The small group had turned towards her position and realising that she was apt to be spotted she stepped out from underneath the tree towards them. She had no fear of Stormwind riders, she was relatively well known for supplying hides and skins to the royals and lords of Stormwind but had always been sure to leave quickly for the bustling city was far too crowded for her liking.

The horses came to a hesitant stop in front her and snorted restlessly amongst themselves, one rider came forward and dismounted, giving the reins of his horse to another before removing his helmet.

"Lothar?"

 _What in the hell?_

"Do you know how long it took us to find you in this _God forsaken infernal_ _ **rain**_? Where is the orc you're residing with?"

She opened her mouth to answer him but the shock of her encounter silenced her. Should she even answer him? _What_ would she tell him?

Her thought were thoughts were abruptly stopped when she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder and felt the familiar warmth behind her.

"Ah, so there he is. Our gallant hero."

Garrok'Nha was already making the horses restless and when he let out a defiant growl at the armoured man standing in front of Lilly the riders become restless too. He had his hand firmly grasped around his axe, ready to charge forward if this toothling so much as raised a hand in threat.

"We have come to talk, not to fight. My guards and I would appreciate it if you lowered your weapon."

"Why should we trust you?" Her voice did not come across as shaky but her legs felt like buckling beneath her body. She feared for him. Lothar had been somewhat of an acquaintance and drinking buddy but he was still not a man to be messed with, Garrok'Nha would not hesitate to kill him and that would send a tidal wave of hate over Stormwind compared to the ripples that were growing now.

"I have no reason to harm either of you," he raised his hands, showing that he wielded no weapon, "We have come for help and a companion travelled with us that you might find interesting."

Lothar turned and nodded towards a soldier that stood uncertainty behind him. Out of the sea of riders two orcs came forward and Garrok'Nha lowered his weapon at the site of them.

"This is Durotan. He said that the orc who was with you might be able to help us."

Durotan and Garrok'Nha were greeting each other and despite the wet circumstances seemed to be glad to see each other again. Both started conversing in orcish and Lilly, calmed by Garrok'Nha's trust turned to Lothar.

"How did you find us."

"Medivh told us where to find you."

"Why? Why bother coming all this way?"

"Once we are out of the rain I will tell you everything but for now we need shelter but we need to move fast."

"We can go to the cave but not all of your men will fit inside it."

"You've been living in a cave?"

"It's all we could find."

"Its nearly winter, you'll both freeze out here."

She shrugged her shoulders, there's not much she could do about that right now but pointed in the direction before Lothar offered her a horse.

The ride to the cave was cold and wet. The horses struggled through the mud and a strong wind had picked up, billowing the iciness into their already freezing bodies. A overhang of leather pieces was set up for the soldier and horses in an attempt to dry them as well as a fire which struggled against the wind and dampness.

The three orcs, Lothar, Lilly and two other soldiers squashed up into the cave. The wind howled outside and the weather turned for the worst as if upset by the Stormwind soldiers. Voices had to be raised to be heard and tempers within the group were running short because of the foul weather.

Garrok'Nha was not hesitant or shy to fuss over Lilly when they got back, giving her dry skins and seating her closest to the fire. Durotan looked on curiously as this huge orc tended to a soft, small, inconsequential and helpless human.

 _Inconsequential? No, that was definitely incorrect._

The much older orc was seated next and offered warm food which he refused. He was looking intently at Lilly and she was becoming more than a little uncomfortable at his stare.

There was an uncomfortable silence which no one seemed to want to break until Lilly looked up at Lothar.

"Why have you come here?"

"Because of Gul'Dan."

She snapped her eyes to Garrok'Nha who had become angered by this sudden intrusion of reality.

"Durotan has given us information that there are more than few orcs who are not happy. Orcs that would be willing to fight but are reluctant to fight alongside humans. We need all the help we can get with this Mahira. That's why we came to you."

This was translated by Durotan to Garrok'Nha who had a scowl on his face with his fists clenched tightly.

"He also mentioned that your…" he looked at Garrok'Nha who glared back with venomous stare, "friend here is an excellent warrior and knows tactics better than anyone in their camp. He could be invaluable to us."

"I'm sure there are others who can do it just as well."

"There is something else…" he glanced at Durotan and then to the older orc who was shuffling in a small bag of supplies that he bought with.

"The orcs who are willing to help us… they need to know that we can be trusted. Medivh was adamant that you come with us. It could help orc and humans understand each other."

Although Garrok'Nha couldn't fully understand the conversation he could tell were it was leading and he did not like were it was going.

"We would like you to come with us so that you could show us your culture and teach us your language." Durotan's voice boomed through the cave, his voice was commanding and Lothar glanced at him quickly before Lilly realised he was speaking in orcish.

"There is going to be a war and you want me to each you my language? I don't understand."

But she did understand. There were ulterior motives in place here and she wasn't comfortable not knowing them before agreeing to any terms.

Durotan was surprised but not taken aback that she knew their language. Her tongue had a fluent roll to it and she struggled with the guttural aspect but she spoke it well.

"We also know you were imprisoned at the orc camp," he all but spat out the words, "you know the land and we want to know what you know. Our people might be eased seeing someone who can communicate and understand the orcs. Someone who is comfortable with them."

She placed a gentle hand on Garrok'Nha's knee and squeezed softly.

"In return, we can offer you a warm place to stay for the winter. Food, drink, company anything you might need."

Shelter.

They were putting her and Garrok'Nha in a position that would be hard for them to refuse. This winter would be hard enough even if they had proper shelter and enough food.

The old orc who had been rummaging through his bag finally pulled out a small square box and offered it to Lilly.

"These times have been harsh for you. I bought you this for your comfort."

She hesitantly took the box and opened it before looking at the old orc. When they caught eye contact his body flooded with realisation.

 _She is the one._

 _Wolf mother._

She took a hard brown coloured nub and put it into her mouth, holding it there until it melted.

Chocolate. He had bought her chocolate. Her eyes welled with tears as the silky smooth treat spread throughout her mouth. Chocolate was a rare delicacy even in Stormwind.

"Thank you."

"We must make haste. We need your answer."

"It is also up to Garrok'Nha, not just me."

"We will go."

Without looking at him she raised a brow in surprise. His answer was quick and abrupt. His reasoning was not for himself but for her, she would not survive the winter and for Durotan, one of the of the only orcs who had accepted him when he had been ostracized. He owed the orc a great favour and he was more than willing to help the humans if it meant that it would be taking down Gul'Dan.

"Alright then."

"There is a settlement a few days ride from here if we ride hard which we will be. Mahira, the horse I gave you to ride is a gift. He is green but is sired by our greatest warhorse, if you will have him. The orcs use, what I believe are called worgs. Pack what you need. You will not be coming back here."

She glanced at Garrok'Nha in uncertainty but he was already up and rolling up skins, kicking old pots out the way, ripping up water skins to tie up their necessities with. Lilly looked around the cave. It had saved her life. Not just hers but also his. She was slightly annoyed that he was so quick to pack and even more infurioriated at how he dismissed the very items which had helped them survive.

She sighed heavily and stood wearily. There was not much she wished to take and the most important thing she had was already around her neck. As she bent down to pick up the few books she had gathered it slipped from underneath her dress and hung, swaying back and forth in the fires light.

When she turned around with an armful of books Durotan was standing behind her. He gently picked up Kodhrans tooth, careful not to harm the human and looked at it with sorrow before enclosing it in his fist.

"This fight has lost us so much."

"He will not be forgotten. I promise."

With her pledge he let the tooth go and she tucked it neatly back underneath her dress, wobbling as she tried to maintain her balance and keep the books from tumbling.

They were quick to mount up. Garrok'Nha's worg, a black female with flecks of white spattered in her fur, was ecstatic to see him again. Her blue eyes lit up her ears folded back and she wagged her tail at his sight. The old orc had managed to smuggle her out if the encampment much to his smug satisfaction and was rather proud of the fact that he had been able to leave unnoticed.

Lilly's new horse was bigger than Proppin and huge in size even though he was still growing. He was not quick to accept his new rider and fought her as she mounted up, rearing at the side of the new orc and snorting in defiance as Lilly took hold of the reins. Lothar was at first concerned that she would not be able to handle big animal and Garrok'Nha was quick to lend his aid in an attempt to calm the animal. Lilly held a hand up to stop him and seated the horse firmly as he pranced around in an agitated circle.

The horse rivalled the size oven Garrok'Nha's worg and as they set off he calmed down enough to accept his rider.

They were riding into huge changes. The thought of it sent shivers down her spine. They had inhabited the cave for so long that it had become her home and now they were leaving. She would be sad to see it go but the thought of constant warm and a ready supply of food quelled her sorrow. She did not know what was to come and at this point in time she was not sure that she wanted to find out.


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's note:_ Hey guys, I know that I havent posted in a while, its been a shit show of the almost three years that I've been dormant. I recently rediscovered this story and still really want to finish it so I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and thank you for your patience!

CHAPTER TEN ~ Thing

The ride to their destination had been heavy, hard and wet. By the time the group arrived at the small town that had been cleared out to accommodate the soldiers Lilly was tired of hearing the soldiers complaining. The orcs had fared well on their ride other than having to bare with the incessant rain. Lilly's horse had come to accept his rider had refused, much to her amusement, that he would no longer allow other people to ride him.

The town had been cleared out but for a few farming families. They were told that they would be staying with one of these families and as Lilly neared the town her apprehension grew. Garrok'Nha would be one of the first orcs that they would see. She was not sure if his diplomacy would hold out long enough for the family to trust him. It was not the soldiers that she was worried about anymore, in fact her people seemed to have taken a liking to the three orcs once they were sure they posed no threat.

Lothar had kept to himself. Ever the avid soldier he did not complain about the weather and did his best to keep his men in high spirits. For the most part this had been a success once they had started to move again but he was not against a warm meal and a clean, dry bed.

Garrok'Nha had actually enjoyed the ride. Even in the rain it felt good to be out of the cave and moving. His main concern was Lilly. She was quiet. She did not converse with anyone, instead she would twirl her horses main around her fingers and stare off into the distance. She had even avoided conversation with Garrok'Nha and her lack of smart retorts had put him off.

They arrived all at once. Extra hands rushed out of the town to help them with their horses though Lilly declined but dismounted all the same. Her and Garrok'Nha were led to a small farm house on the outskirts of the town and introduced to the family that would be housing them.

A family of three, the man had farmed this land for years, his wife was plump and younger than him, with rosy cheeks that considerably paled when she spotted the huge orc marching towards them and sparking blue had a son.

Lilly looked at the little boy and felt regret pang through her heart. This small child knew nothing of the world and already he was close to a warzone. He was looking at Garrok'Nha with sheer amazement as he tugged on his mothers dress and pointed eagerly. He had been waiting for this day for a long time. He had heard of the orcs and when his parents told him that they were going to be housing one his excitement had boiled over. He had personally helped his father prepare the barn next the house and although he was not much concerned with the woman he had gone to extreme lengths to do what he could to make sure the orc would feel welcome, including crafting a makeshift weapon rack, putting extra straw in the mattress and pillow that Garrok'Nha would be using, making sure there was fresh water for when they arrived and putting down all his personal cups, plates and bowels for the orc to use.

The family was hesitant to greet them when stepped Lilly stepped forward.

"Im Lilly and this is Garrok'Nha."

An uncomfortable silence followed. The husband who had been looking Garrok'Nha up and down turned his back and walked inside. His wife shot him an unappreciative glance before stepping up to Lilly.

"Yer both very welcome to what we 'ave, it may not be much but we will make do with what we've got."

In an unexpected move Lilly walked closer and wrapped her arms around the older woman and just held her, clenching the sobs that threatened to overcome her.

"Thank you so much. I have no idea how we can repay you." Her voice broke at the last minute and she pulled away, rubbing her eyes free of the uncried tears.

"Oh, honey, come on no'. We 'ave a nice warm place se' up fer both of ye and food is almos' ready." She lifted her skirts a little and bustled up to the massive orc of her own accord.

"I'm Sarah. Ye too are welcome 'arrok'Nha. Take no care of me husban', he'll get used to yer just fine."

She offered her hand to the orc who looked at her with utter confusion before taking it limply in his own. Sarah seemed to notice that he didn't know what to do with this greeting so she laughed heartily.

"Yer suppose' to shake it dear, like this." She took his hand and rearranged his fingers so that he was firmly grasping it. "Now no' to tight, we are not as strong as yer are, there we go." Once she was happy with how he was grasping her hand she shook it three times.

"Ai, tha' ought to do it."

She ruffled her dress with satisfaction at teaching this newcomer one of her peoples greetings and shuffled around her son who still stood staring at the massive orc with glinting eyes.

"Now, ye two ar' in that big builden ove' there. We made ye beds and there ar' fresh clothes fer the both of ye's if ye want and if ye need anythin' don't hesitate te knock. Supper will be in abou' two 'hours." She turned to Lilly and gestured towards the huge horse, "Ye can put him in the stables my dear, thar's a nice little pasture fer him ove'r there an' clean wate' an' food."

She hushed the young boy inside of the main house while the weary travellers pulled open the doors to what used to be a storage room. It was well protected and it was warm. There was a bed in one of the corners that was no doubt meant for Lilly and because they did not have a bed that was big enough for Garrok'Nha they'd made a makeshift mattress that they'd stuffed with fabric and straw.

Lilly liked what she saw, it was cosy and more spacious than the cave at least. Once she had taken in her surroundings she led the horse to a double stable nearby, one of the stables housed an old looking gelding who whickered softly at the newcomers. She unsaddled her horse and wiped him down before turning him out to the pasture.

Garrok'Nha was behind her when she turned around. He put his hand gently behind her neck and tilted her face upwards so that he could press his forehead against hers.

This did not go unnoticed by the family of three who were peeking out the window.

"Aye, tha's love 'ight ther' tha' is."

"How would you know? A human and an orc? It's a disgrace."

"Well I married ye didn't I? Tha's how I kno'".

Garrok'Nha took Lilly's hand and led her inside into the warm and dry shed. They must have known the group was returning because on the side of the room there was a large steaming bath waiting to be used. He laid her down on his makeshift mattress and billowed a large sigh of relief at how comfortable it was when he lay down next to her.

Lilly undressed herself in front of the big orc. She had no hesitation of him seeing her body anymore. The scars from past whippings etched darkly into her back still made him whince. His muscles were sore and tired from the long ride and he watched lethargically as she pulled the dirty dress over her head and tossed it to the side. She surveyed the little shelf above the bath, a hair brush, scrubbing brush, soap and even shampoo were placed neatly together with a little daisy chain.

She giggled to herself softly at the effort the woman had made to make them feel welcome and turned to Garrok'Nha with an amused expression on her face.

He surveyed her body with a satisfied expression. It had filled out nicely, although still slightly emaciated, her breasts had become round and full again, her stomach showed off too much of her muscle for his liking but he couldn't see her ribs anymore and her hips and widened.

"Are you going to join me?"

He shook his head and he glanced at the semen running down her legs. There was an intense satisfaction for him seeing how comfortable she was around him, how she had accepted him and he grunted in amusement at the thought of his seed in and on her.

"Yeah… you're probably too fat anyway." She winked at him playfully and slipped into the hot water as he grunted at her from across the room.

"Mahira?"

Her head snapped to him quickly, her relaxed face now marred with a deep frown.

"Don't call me that ever again."

She turned her face away from him and splashed warm water onto her skin.

 _Oh lords…_

The water was so warm. So enticing. So beautiful. She tugged at her hair and it unravelled Itself in a tangled mess. Her hand fumbled on the shelf and she reached for the hair brush and shampoo.

"Hhnnnnnnnnn- I don't know when last I had a bath oh sweet baby murlocks."

Garrok'Nha got up and stood over the bath, watching her wash herself. Since he had met this small tooth his life had taken a turn. He didn't think it was for the worst. When he looked into her eyes his body melted, his heart _sang_.

 _What an odd thing to say about a warrior of your stature._

It was odd but it was true although he wouldn't ever admit this to anyone else.

"I'm going to look for Durotan. There is much yet we have to discuss."

"Yes but you really should bath you know. I don't think you've bathed since I met you." He leaned down and she wrapped her arms around his thick neck, kissing his lips softly as he smirked at her.

"You love it."

"Yeah I love the smell of wet dog, which is exactly what you smell like by the way. So attractive."

He stood but she did not remove her arms from around his neck. Moving an arm underneath her knees he smoothly picked her up and stepped into the warm bath. No doubt this would be a squish for the both of him but she had a fair point. He tucked her neatly into his chest and dipped his already naked body into the water.

"But after this, we find Durotan."

She nodded in agreement as the water spilled over the baths edges. Unfortunately because of their urgent love making the water was starting to cool and her skin broke out in bumps when she realised how cold it was starting to get.

They bathed quickly. When they were done she dressed in the thick, purple dress that Sarah had left her. Its collar was stiff and its skirt was splayed out slightly. It was essentially a fancy farm workers dress with enough space left at the bottom that the hem would not drag on the muddy ground. Thick boots that had white fur aligning the insides were more than welcome on her cold feet and a long, leather coat lined with cotton to keep the cold out was hastily adorned.

Garrok'Nha merely put on the same clothes that he had been wearing. His armour needed cleaning but that was of no importance now. What was distracting him was her smell, laced with the sweet scent of flowers was the all encompassing smell of him. She _smelt_ like him. She smelt like he'd marked her with their lovemaking. A human would not notice but an orc most definitely would.

He grunted to himself in satisfaction.

 _Good. Let them know._

It was still cold outside as they left. Garrok'Nha's worg, which had been laying outside and rolling in the mud greeted Lilly with a face sniff and a small lick but ignored her master. She followed behind the woman closely much to Lilly's horror.

The worgs still scared her. They were ferocious fighters and much more loyal than horses and they were cunning. The level of intelligence that they displayed and the loyalty given made them an animal that Lilly did not understand and one that she feared.

Nevertheless the worg followed _her_ around instead of Garrok'Nha who watched on curiously at the animals odd behaviour. The worg stopped when Lilly stopped. Sat when Lilly bent down to pick up a small flower, yipped playfully at the hem of her dress as she walked and got oddly defensive if anyone came to close.

Soon it was not only Garrok'Nha's worg that was acting in this manner. The other two worgs that had travelled to camp with the troop quickly joined Lilly and Garrok'Nha's walk much to Lilly's quiet distress and acted much the same as the black female worg.

The town was small but bustling with life. Cooks preparing food, stable hands fetching and returning horses, soldiers on and off guard, tailors, blacksmiths, scholars and many many more stopped to look at the big orc as he passed by with a girl in purple dress and three big worgs following him.

Lilly was quick to spot a library. She stopped in her tracks, the worgs tumbling around her and turned to the building.

"I'm going in here."

"We have to find Durotan."

"You have to find Durotan. Besides, the orcs want nothing to do with me and neither do the soldiers so I'll be in here reading if you want to find me."

It was without further discussion that she walked straight into the building. The worgs tried to follow her in but were abruptly shooed out by a firm, annoyed librarian.

It was a small library but a library nonetheless. She browsed the few shelves of books that they had before realising that she had no money. Despondent by this she cautiously approached the librarian.

"Excuse me, I don't have money to-"

The librarian snapped the book she was reading through shut and looked sharply at the newcomer.

"You can read the books, as long as you stay in the library. It's more of a town record facility anyway and you're the first person to come in here for months!"

She turned on her heel and hustled off leaving Lilly standing were she was as confused as ever. A free offer was still a free offer though so she perused the shelves until she found something she thought she might like.

The room, other than the shelves and a front desk, was bare. There was only one seat which she assumed was the librarians and even though sunlight filtered through the windows it was still annoyingly dark.

The older librarian came back into view, her arms were piled with old pillows and blankets. She tottered over to a fire place which hosted a small but lively fire and placed the blankets and pillows down.

"I reckon it'll be nice to finally have some company around here. Make yourself at home, I'll make some tea."

Before Lilly could even reply she had lifted her skirts and shuffled into a back room.

It have been a good few hours since she had arrived at the library and the only reason she left was because the light from the sun had all but vanished. The fire offered her satisfactory light for a time being but that too had faded quickly. She marked her place in the book and stretched her out her body which had been curled underneath a old, faded, red blanket which was still surprisingly thick, fluffy and warm.

Even the old woman was preparing to leave and Lilly folded up the blankets up and placed them neatly on her table.

"I open tomorrow at sun up if you want to come join me again." She scooted Lilly out of the way and locked up the heavy wooden doors to the library.

"Thank you."

"Maybe tomorrow you can bring some of Sarah's lovely biscuits so that we can have something to adorn our tea? That girl makes the best biscuits in this town. Shame she married such a miserable old man. Did you know that he tried to burn this whole place to the ground when they told him that the orcs would be coming to help out our armies? Not that I blame him, they've spread enough fear around here. But I reckon it'll be nice to see some new faces in town this place gets mighty boring after a good couple years. The only place that gets my interest up is the mermaid murlock." she cackled to herself, "All the soldiers go there now so it's the best place in town!" she glanced around her and leaned in so that only Lilly could hear what she whispered, "I always look for the tough looking ones, they're the ones with mommy issues." She snorted to herself in amusement as the young woman before giggled rather shyly. "Look at me prattling on, you get going now and I'll see you around town I hope!"

She did not wait for a reply before she shuffled off into the night leaving Lilly giggling behind her. She had been slightly worried when the old woman mentioned that the farmer tried to burn down this place but she would talk to Sarah and keep an eye out at the same time.

She strolled around town for a bit, the worgs who had been waiting outside for her had quietened now, they passed softly next to her as she explored. Most places had already shut down shop for the evening, some still had candles burning outside their doors or on their table tops. The few families that were here had settled in for the night and it was mostly guards who walked around on patrol duty. They ignored her as she walked passed but she paid no heed it.

The town was small enough that it did not take long for her to find the little building that her and Garrok'Nha were sharing. The main house had candles flickering in the windows and so she made her way to the house. The smell of roasting beef made her stomach growl with anticipation and when she neared the house Sarah spotted her through the window and beckoned her in through the front door.

"Suppe's almos' ready yer jus' in time, dear."

"I'm not sure where Garrok'Nha is I should probably wait for him-"

"Oh nonsense, the counci' sen' word tha' they'd be late. I'll keep some foo' on the side fer him dear. "

 _The council?_ She supposed it must be the soldiers who were planning an attack on Gul'Dan.

 _Lords, we've just got here we need to rest._

But gul'dan would not be resting, she could be sure of that. She felt a twinge of apprehension about this whole situation which was relieved when Sarah guided her to a table where her son and husband were sitting.

Both were staring at her while Sarah placed plates of food on the table. Mashed potato, creamed mushroom with spinach, butternut, peas, buttered carrots, beautiful green salad leaves adorned with plump, ripe baby tomatoes and small crumbs of cheese, gravy, beef and roasted garlic. Lilly stomach growled again at the site of all of the food and twisted around painfully.

"Ea' up dear."

Lilly did not need another invitation. She piled food onto her plate until it threatened to topple over and started shovelling food down her throat.

The small boy laughed and added more mashed potatoes to her plate.

"You gotta have more if this it's my favourite."

"It's so good," chunks of mashed potato flew out of her mouth as she spoke. All she wanted to do was full the black hole that had opened up inside her stomach. Months of eating watery broth and unflavoured meat left her longing for a good meal and here it was.

She glanced up from her food when Sarah placed something on the table. Salt and pepper.

 _Salt and pepper._

She'd forgotten they even existed.

Grabbing the salt she splashed some over her veggies and potato before forking more roast beef into her mouth.

"If you squeeze your garlic cloves like this then all the insides squirt out. You should try it on your beef, it's my favourite too." The boy suggested with a sing song tone in his voice. As he was suggesting this he pushed down on a roasted clove of garlic with his fork and swelled before exploding outwards.

He laughed merrily at this, "Its like a pimple!"

"James! This is no place fer talk like tha'. Not a' the dinner table."

But the child's excitement rose when he saw Lilly mimicking what he had done with garlic and spreading it on her meat. She took a huge mouthful and rolled her eyes, exaggerating her groaning much to the little boys delight.

"Your favourites taste so good!"

"You should squish the peas and add them to your mashed potato and put gravy on the top! Then I like to wrap it in one of these leaves and it's like eating a little gift!"

"James! Don't play with your food!"

It was the first words that Lilly had heard the husband speak. He barked them out abruptly and coldly. Immediately the boys demeanor changed. He stopped giggling and looked down solemnly at his food. He picked at the food now instead of eating it and unwrapped the little parcel he had made.

There was a deep grunt from the front of the house and Lilly was glad for it to have broken the uncomfortable silence. She turned to Garrok'Nha with her cheeks full of food and stood up, swallowing the chewed up mash potato and beef painfully. Gently she took his head in her heads and he allowed her guide it down so that she could rest her forehead against his. HIs breathing hot against her face and his eyes softening as they gazed into hers.

The husband slammed his hands down on the table. This was too much for him to bare. And orc and a human? This _thing_ in front of him was horrendous. He was furious. This pulse beat in his ears and the veins in his neck stood out in his absolute rejection of the couple. This human was a _traitor_ and they had just let her waltz in here? The worst part of this all was that she was pretty and she'd choose to be with an orc.

"How DARE you come into my house this is DESPICABLE." Both human and orc just looked at him. There was no anger in their eyes, their faces just devoid of any emotion. He at at least expected some reaction, any reaction would have sated his fury but he did not expect this. He pointed at Lilly, "And you, Orc fucker-"

Garrok'Nha bared his huge tusks at the man before letting out an ear piercing roar, he slammed a chair that was in his path with a huge fist and it collided with the stone walls of the house, shattering on impact. His axe was already clenched between his balled fingers and he lifted it up, this arms begging for the release of their power, this chest heaving with the urgency in which he wished to smash this small, insignificant bastard.

The husband who had been picking for a fight all day had finally got one. The picked up a piece of the shattered chair, wood splinters jutted out dangerously and he waved it around in the most threatening manner that he could muster.

"Fight me then you orc PIG."

The orc who was dangerously close to blood lust could only see red. This man had threatened the only thing in his life that made living worthwhile, the only thing that kept him at least trying to fight and the one thing he would die for. She stood beside him surveying the situation quickly, she could see the sweat on his upper lip, his piercings glinted in the fire light, his arm muscles bulged with adrenaline. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion for her. The way his arm was flexing to bring his axe over his shoulder, ready to initiate a fight, his mouth wide open, bellowing his roar, she could even see flecks of spit flying from his mouth.

"Enough."

The words whisped from her mouth softly but they had a big enough impact that Garrok'Nha stopped in his tracks, his roar tapering off and his axe dropping to his side. She could feel his fury, feel it radiating from his body, rushing through his blood. He turned his head to look at her, panting slightly. She locked her eyes on him and run her fingers slowly up his arm seeming to release the tension that had bundled and cupped his face softly. He leaned into her hand. She could feel his hate for this human who had threatened her burning through his body and his ultimate desire was to protect her.

"It's okay, Im okay."

His body relaxed at her touch and he lowered his axe. Lilly turned back to the husband who was still furiously brandishing the jagged piece of wood.

"YOU COWAR-"

A pan had been hurled at him and it slammed into the humans face. Sarah came bustling up after it and picked the heavy cooking utensil off his slumped body.

"Oh stop yer whining ye bi' baby. These 're our guests." She turned to the orc with a look of exasperation. "I'm so sorry my dear, he's been drinkin' again."

"He'll be like that for a while now." The boy piped in, his eyes the size of dinner plates as he looked at the orc. "Sir, where did you get your axe?"

For a moment Garrok'Nha looked at Lilly in confusion so she translated for him with a small smirk on her face. When he understood the question he addressed the boy in Lilly's language.

"My father made it for me, I have had it many years."

"Cool! Axes my favourite!" He held a bitter knife in his hand and hurled it around, he wielded the knife much like Garrok'Nha had brandished his weapon.

Sarah had dished up a plate of food for him and he hesitantly sat on the ground, he was tall and big enough that when he sat his chest and shoulder still towered over the table.

"Have you used it before? To behead people?"

"Yes."

The boy squirmed in this apparently delightful piece of information and shoved more food into his mouth.

"Its sho chool t ave a ok in da hoos."

Garrok'Nha was digging into his plate. He preferred meat usually but these small green vegetables exploded in his mouth when he bit into them and he found it quite exciting.

Lilly too had carried on eating but now she was a bit more dignified about how she shovelled the food into her mouth. Now that she did not feel the need to eat so desperately she chewed slower. Sarah and busied herself by putting a pillow under her husband's head and then opened a huge wood fire stove and pulled out a pie.

"There's more?" Lilly could not believe this woman. She had cooked enough food for even Garrok'Nha to start slowing down. This food was quality, even in her travels Lilly had not tasted anything that had been so well prepared.

"Aye, ther's more," she chuckled heartily to herself and she placed the huge pie on the table, "I used te make brownies in Dalaran. Sure I 'ave the recipe aroun' 'ere somewhere."

"You can make dalaran brownies?"

"Aye, bu' some of the ingredients 're quite 'ard te get."

"If I can get them for you will you make me some? I haven't had Dalaran brownies in ages and they are my favourite."

"Of'ourse lass!"

This conversation was of no importance to Garrok'Nha who was grunting softly as he ate through the food on his plate. His stomach was filling up, his eyes becoming groggy and his body becoming heavy. It had been a long time since he had felt this tired and he actually looked forward to having a proper sleep.

It was pitch dark by the time they got back to their accommodation. Both had bellies laden with food and sleepy, heavy eyes. They didn't bother trying to light the candles. Ignoring the bed she followed Garrok'Nha to his mattress and took off her coat, boots and dress and snuggled next to the orc who dwarfed her in size.

"Your amour's still on."

He grunted in response, not really caring until he felt her cold hands tugging and unbuckling

"I could get used to you undressing me."

"Well don't," she chuckled soft, his body was always warm. She felt the hard muscle, his chest hair and when she got to his belt and undid it, she felt his coarse, thick, curly pubic hair.

"What are you trying to do, woman?"

Although it was dark she softly kissed his neck and chest. Her lips were so soft against his skin that it tickled.

His smell surrounded Her, strong, earthy, masculine and undoubtedly dominant. Her breath was hot against his skin as she straddled his large thighs.

"You defended me," she breathed into his ear, her hand resting in his lower jaw she hooked her thumb around his tusk. "Thank you."

"You stopped me."

"There was a child."

"Orc children learn the ways of war young."

"He is not an orc." Her fingers were softly tracing his rough lips, her teeth gently nipped at his ear.

"Do you know how hot you make me when you do that?"

"My screaming at children turns you on?"

She bit hard into his ear as a response, he grunted harshly at the pain and pulled her away.

She took his hands from her body and moved them to her breasts, inching closer to his chest. Her lips resting against His, her hips wigging infuriatingly close to his hardening member.

"It turns me on to see you protect me, it turns me on when I see you fight." Her voice was breathy and hoarse. She was doing a good job at splaying herself over him so that she was resting on his member.

"And when you dominate the battlefield it makes me desperately want you."

He grumbled at her and slid her off his exhausted body, turning to his side and encasing her in thick arms.

"Not now, woman."

She tried to worm her way out of his arms in objection but his heart beat lulled her, his warmth comforted her and his steady breath on her face made her feel secure.

"You're so boring. Such an old orc."

He mumbled something in reply and she realised that he was already drifting to sleep. She allowed him to settle with her in his arms. She drifted in and out out an restless sleep until she could no longer turn her mind from the silence of the night.

She shrugged off Garol'Nha's heavy arm and sat up quietly, her muscles aching in objection. His breathing seemed to shatter the silence around them even the soft clicking at the back of her throat when she swallowed was deafening. She slipped off the mattress and swung the coat over her body, opening the door as quietly as she could before turning to the forest.

This feeling scared her. She felt eyes watching her as if coming from all directions, all the muscles in her body were telling her to run but there was nothing there.

 _Nothing you can see._

Not even the wind blew, there was just thick, heavy silence. No owls, no chirping, no wolves, nothing.

Feeling the cold that lingered in the air she took a step towards the dense forest, straining her eyes. She slowed her breathing and continued to gaze over the forest, with no light she had no hope of seeing anything.

She shivered softly in the icy air before the heavy clouds above her started unleashing their torrents of rain. She turned to go back inside to rejoin Garrok'Nha not knowing that what she was looking for was looking back at her. It did not mind the rain and usually the sight of any human would have sent it scuttling back into the deep depths of the forest where it dwelled but it was hungry.


End file.
